WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS. 


tihxavy  of  €He  theological  ^tminavy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


•a^D- 


PRESENTED  BY 

Delavan  L.   Pierson 


Verbeck  of  Japan 


WORKS  OF 
WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS. 


The  Mikado's  Empire. 

Corea,  the  Hermit  Nation. 

Japanese  Fairy  "World. 

Japan :  In  History,  Folk- Lore,  and  Art. 

The  Religions  of  Japan. 

Matthew  Calbraith  Perry. 

Townsend  Harris. 

The  Romance  of  Discovery. 

The  Romance  of  American  Colonization. 

The  Romance  of  Conquest. 

The  Pathfinders  of  the  Revolution. 

America  in  the  East. 

Brave  Little  Holland. 

The  Student's  Motley. 

The  American  in  Holland. 


Dr.  Verbeck  in  1897. 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

A  Citizen  of  No  Country 


A  Life  Story  of   Foundation   Work 
Inaugurated  by  Guido  Fridolin  Verbeck  J 


BY 


WILLIAM  ELLIOT  GRIFFIS 

Author  of  **The  Mikado's  Empire,"  «  The  Religions  o/Japan^" 
"  The  American  in  Holland."  etc. 


f  T  R^ 


VTTA  A  LUX 


New  York  Chicago  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell   Company 

Publishers  of  Evangelical  Literature 


Copyright,  1900 

by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


THE  CAXTON  PRESS 
NEW  YORK. 


DEDICATED 

WITH  SINCERE  REGARD 
TO 

MARIA  MANION  VERBECK 

THE   "HELPMEET   FOR  HIM" 

AND 

THE  MOTHER  OF  THE  CHILDREN 


Contents 

chap.  page 

Preface  " 

I.    A  Glance  in  Perspective 17 

II.    The  Koppel 39 

III.  In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 48 

IV.  A  Glance  at  Old  Japan 69 

V.    In  Nagasaki  :  First  Impressions 80 

VI.    Political  Upheaval 100 

VII.    The  Doors  Opening "S 

VIII.    The  Revolution  of  1868 142 

IX.    Trip  to  Osaka I57 

X.    Called  to  the  Capital .180 

XI.    The  Biographer  in  Tokio 217 

XII.  Among  All  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men  .  .  240 

XIII.  The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom  .   .    .255 

XIV.  Decorated  by  the  Emperor 277 

XV.    Preacher  and  Translator 3°' 

XVI.    A  Man  Without  a  Country 3^7 

XVII.  "Weary  with  the  March  of  Life"    .   .   .348 


List  of  Illustrations 

Dr.  Verbeck  in  1897 Frontispiece, 

FACING  PAGE 

GuiDO  AND  Maria  Verbeck 62 

Messrs.  G.    F.  Verbeck,  S.  R.  Brown,  and  D.   B. 
Simmons 66 

Students  in  the  Government  School  at  Nagasaki  122 

Wakasa,  His  Two  Sons  and  Retainers,  1866    . 


130 
First  Science  Class,  Imperial  University,  1874 

A  Japanese  Graduate  of  Rutger's  College      .     .172 

Imperial  University  of  Japan,  1871 186 

Imperial  University  in  Tokio,  1874 272 

Japanese  Bible  with  its  case ) 

[   284 
Jewel  of  the  Order  of  the  Rising  Sun  .     .     .   j 

Synod  of  the  Union  Church,  1887 324 

Passport  for  Dr.  Verbeck  and  Family    ....  330 

Monument   of     Dr.    Verbeck,    erected    by    the 
grateful  japanese 356 


Preface 

At  the  direct  and  urgent  request  of  the  friends 
of  the  late  Dr.  Guido  Fridolin  Verbeck,  "Ver- 
beck  of  Japan,"  the  greatest,  under  God,  of  the 
makers  of  the  new  Christian  nation  that  is  com- 
ing and  even  now  is,  I  have  written  the  story  of 
his  life,  in  my  own  way.  I  had  no  desire,  nor 
was  any  desire  expressed  by  others  that  I  should 
paint  in  words  the  picture  of  an  immaculate 
saint,  or  set  forth  a  being  of  supernal  powers. 
Neither  have  I  the  taste  or  the  ability  to  enter  into 
the  minutiae  of  ecclesiastical  politics.  Let  others 
write  of  these,  or  do  justice  to  his  work  as  a 
churchman.  I  have  told  in  outline  the  story  of 
one  of  the  "nursing  fathers"  of  a  nation,  even 
of  Christian  Japan.  I  have  striven  to  portray  a 
faithful  brother-man  and  a  child  of  God,  one 
whose  tender  love  to  his  Father  was  shown  in  a 
life  hid  with  Christ  and  a  constant  ministry  of 
service  to  his  fellow-men.  I  have  wrought  not 
for  those  who  knew  Verbeck,  but  for  those  who 
knew  him  not. 

I  knew  Verbeck  of  Japan  during  four  years  of 
intimacy  in  the  Mikado's  empire.  Thrice  visiting 
his  birthplace,  Zeist  in  Holland,  I  learned  many 
facts  about  his  early  life  and  his  unconscious 
preparation  for  wonderful  work  in  the  Far  East. 
11 


Preface 

I  have  had  access  to  the  file  of  his  letters,  from 
i860  to  1898,  written  home  to  the  secretaries  of 
the  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church 
in  America,  and  to  many  of  those  sent  to  his 
own  relatives,  as  well  as  to  his  own  diaries,  note- 
books, and  to  other  documents  lent  me  by  his 
daughter.  Nevertheless,  Verbeck  was  mightier 
in  work  than  in  word,  and  left  relatively  com- 
paratively little  writing  of  a  personal  nature.  To 
all  who  have  in  any  way  aided  me,  I  return  sin- 
cere and  hearty  thanks. 

The  bulk  of  the  book  treats  of  what  God  gave 
Guido  Verbeck  to  do,  as  quietly  and  as  unseen  as 
if  he  were  leaven  hid.  Verbeck's  work  belongs 
less  to  the  phenomenal  than  to  the  potent.  It 
was  just  when  men  were  asking  "do  missions 
in  Japan  pay  ? "  and  even  when  good  people  in 
the  Reformed  Church,  almost  weary  in  welldo- 
ing, were  hinting  at  abandonment  of  their  Japan 
Mission,  that  God  by  means  of  true  servants 
wrought  His  most  wonderful  work  of  educating 
the  Japanese  for  their  new  life. 

Vigorously  suppressing  my  own  opinions  and 
views  of  things  ecclesiastical,  I  have  let  Dr.  Ver- 
beck tell  his  own  story,  and,  also,  show  his  own 
powers  and  limitations.  With  other  things  and 
persons,  Japanese  and  foreign,  I  have  been  more 
free  in  comment  and  criticism.  In  the  Introduc- 
tion, I  have  sketched  briefly  Verbeck  as  a  man  of 
action,  rather  than  of  words.  His  was  the  life  of 
one  willing  as  bridge  builder  to  toil  in  the  caissons, 
unseen,  as  well  as  on  the  cables  in  view  of  all,  to 
12 


Preface 

fight  as  a  sailor  in  the  turrets,  not  knowing  how 
the  battle  went,  as  well  as  on  deck  or  in  the  con- 
ning tower. 

In  my  text  and  quotations,  I  have  used  the 
standard  spelling  of  Japanese  names  and  avoided 
as  far  as  possible  the  use  of  Chinese  forms. 

May  Christians  and  missionaries  like  Verbeck, 
ever  faithful  to  Jesus  the  Christ  abound,  to  con- 
found and  convince  all  those  who  ask  "do  mis- 
sions pay?" 

W.  E.  G. 

Ithaca,  N.  Y» 


13 


A  GLANCE  IN  PERSPECTIVE 

A  star's  serene  radiance  is  better  than  a  me- 
teor's whizz  and  flash.  The  quiet  forceful  life  of 
a  missionary  like  Guido  F.  Verbeck  makes  con- 
temptible the  fame  of  a  popular  idol,  admiral,  or 
general,  who  may  have  caught  the  fancy  of  the 
public  and  the  newspapers.  Such  a  life,  as  un- 
known to  general  fame,  as  the  leaven  in  the  meal 
is  out  of  sight,  was  that  of  Verbeck  of  Japan. 

For  nearly  forty  years  he  gave  the  best  powers 
of  mind  and  body  for  the  making  of  the  new 
state  which  we  behold  to-day  and  the  Christian 
nation  we  see  coming.  He  was  a  destroyer  of 
that  old  hermit  system  in  which  barbarism,  pa- 
ganism, cruelty,  intolerance,  ignorance,  sensual- 
ism, and  all  things  detestable  ran  riot.  He  was 
a  conserver  of  that  ''Everlasting  Great  Japan," 
which  has  in  it,  and,  let  us  hope,  always  will 
have  within  it,  so  many  things  lovely  and  of 
good  report.  He  was  one  of  "the  beginners  of 
a  better  time,"  working  for  liberty  of  conscience, 
for  righteousness,  for  brotherhood,  and  for  the 
making  of  that  new  man  in  Christ  Jesus  which  is 
yet  to  dominate  the  earth. 

Guido  Verbeck  was  willing  to  do  his  work,  as 
God  gave  him  to  do  it,  in  silence  and  shadow, 

15 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

even  in  secrecy  if  need  be.  He  was  a  "Jesuit" 
of  the  right  sort.  Never  for  one  moment  con- 
cealing his  identity,  his  character,  his  mission, 
protesting  against  persecution,  oppression,  and 
suppression,  he  stood  for  free  thought,  free 
speech,  and  the  open  Bible.  He  respected  the 
individuality  of  every  man  from  the  Eta  to  the 
emperor.  Ever  modest  and  retiring,  apparently 
shy  and  timid  when  giving  his  own  advice,  he 
was  bold  as  a  lion  in  doing  what  seemed  right. 
Brave  as  the  bravest  conqueror  of  cities,  he  con- 
trolled himself  and  knew  when  to  keep  still.  He 
feared  the  face  of  no  man. 

Surrounded  often  by  spies  and  traitors,  ruffians 
and  assassins,  living  amid  dangers  and  pestilence 
in  the  old  days,  he  was  never  touched  by  malig- 
nant man  or  contagious  disease.  Never  robust, 
he  was  able  by  care,  exercise  and  temperance  to 
preserve  his  splendid  powers  of  mind  and  body 
to  the  last  year  of  his  life.  Coming  to  Japan  in 
the  old  days  of  the  repression  of  truth  and  light, 
when  the  whole  country  was  under  the  clamps 
of  despotism,  when  the  spy,  the  informer,  and 
the  liar  were  everywhere,  Guido  Verbeck  seemed 
to  the  Japanese  to  be  sheathed  in  light  and  to 
bear  one  invincible  weapon,  truth.  Since  he  al- 
ways told  them  just  what  he  believed  about 
them,  and  about  their  present  and  future,  and 
the  great  realities  of  time  and  eternity,  and  since 
he  always  kept  self  in  the  background,  they  came 
to  trust  him  implicitly  and  to  believe  him  fully. 
The  novelty  of  meeting  a  plain  man  of  truth 

16 


A  Glance  in  Perspective 

amid  so  many  polished  liars,  had  an  effect  on  the 
Japanese  of  the  early  sixties,  at  once  electric, 
tonic,  self-revealing.  Here  was  a  man  whom 
they  likened  to  what  in  material  form  they  prized 
so  highly — the  flawless  crystal  sphere,  that  seems 
first  to  gather  and  then  to  diffuse  abroad  the  sun- 
light. 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  almost  from  the  mo- 
ment of  his  landing  in  Japan,  this  "American- 
ized Dutchman,"  as  he  called  himself,  disarmed 
the  old  suspicions,  winning  new  confidence. 
Becoming  the  servant  of  servants,  as  teacher  and 
helper,  he  attracted  to  himself  the  humble  and 
the  great.  In  the  days  of  their  impressible  youth, 
he  taught  those  who  were  to  be  statesmen  and 
councillors  of  the  emperor  and  in  their  manhood 
he  was  their  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend.  Men 
nearest  the  throne,  yes,  even  the  Mikado  himself, 
in  the  most  hopeful  of  Asiatic  countries  have  ac- 
knowledged freely  and  gratefully  their  obliga- 
tions to  Guido  Verbeck.  A  citizen  of  no  coun- 
try, they  gave  him  a  home  and  protection,  award- 
ing to  the  untitled  missionary  an  honor  unique  in 
the  history  of  the  empire.  When  Verbeck  of 
Japan  lay  **  dead  in  his  harness,"  titled  statesmen 
and  nobles  came  to  pay  unstinted  honors  to  their 
friend  who  had  helped  to  make  Japan  great. 
Japan's  soldier  veterans  with  their  laurels  won  in 
continental  Asia  still  fresh  on  their  flags,  by  im- 
perial order,  escorted  his  body  to  the  tomb.  The 
emperor,  who  had  already  decorated  the  servant 
of  his  people,  gladly  paid  the  expenses  of  the 
17 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

funeral.  The  authorities  of  the  city  of  Tokio 
deeded  to  his  family  the  lot  honored  by  his  grave. 
Japanese  friends,  pupils,  and  admirers  reared  the 
granite  shaft  that  marks  the  spot,  beneath  which 
his  dust  mingles  with  that  of  the  land  he  loved  so 
well,  and  to  which  he  gave  his  best  endeavor. 

Yet  Guido  Verbeck  loved  truth  more  than  he 
loved  Japan,  or  the  United  States,  or  the  Nether- 
lands,— the  countries  in  which  his  three  homes 
were.  He  never  flattered  either  Japanese  or 
Americans  or  Dutchmen,  no  matter  how  much 
he  loved  them  or  was  willing  to  serve,  or  work, 
or  die  for  them.  During  his  long  life  and  in  the 
shadow  of  death,  he  feared,  indeed,  to  lessen  his 
influence  by  rude  and  unnecessary  criticism  or  by 
blurting  out  truths  better  told  later.  Yet  even  as 
"it  is  the  glory  of  God  to  conceal  a  thing,"  so 
Verbeck  was  wise  in  withholding,  while  never 
afraid  at  the  right  time  and  place  to  utter  his  con- 
victions. He  spoke  the  truth  in  love.  He  knew 
what  was  in  man  and  especially  in  Japanese  man, 
genus,  species,  variety,  and  individual.  Yet 
knowing,  he  did  not  despise.  Sometimes  he 
pitied,  oftenerhe  helped,  admired,  or  encouraged. 
He  saw  possibilities  and  cheered  on. 

He  told  me  once,  in  one  of  many  confidences 
whose  seals  I  feel  now  at  liberty  to  break,  that 
he  thought  he  knew  the  individual  Japanese  bet- 
ter than  he  knew  himself.  He  believed  in  Japan 
and  in  her  possibilities.  He  did  not,  like  so  many 
men  from  abroad,  think  that  he  knew  the  Japan- 
ese people,  because  he  was  well  acquainted  and 

18 


A  Glance  in  Perspective 

even  intimate  with  a  few  scholars  and  thinkers. 
On  the  contrary  Verbeck  knew  the  peasant  as 
well  as  the  prince,  the  outcast  as  well  as  the  citi- 
zen, the  people  in  the  mass,  as  well  as  those  who 
wear  decorations  and  gold-embroidered  coats. 
In  his  eyes  all  men  were  the  children  of  the 
Father,  and  nobles  were  no  more.  When  some 
thought  that  missionary  effort  should  be  directed 
more  toward  "  the  upper  classes,"  Verbeck  said, 
"  It  is  the  people  we  must  reach,  the  people." 

Hence,  it  was  never  possible,  either  in  the  craft 
or  state,  or  church,  by  old  politician  or  fresh  mis- 
sionary, by  dogmatist  or  the  polemic,  wolf  dis- 
guised in  the  sheep's  clothing  of  "  liberalism"  so- 
called,  to  deceive  this  master  of  men  and  ideas. 
With  him,  names  were  nothing. 

Verbeck  of  Japan  had  his  limitations,  which 
some  of  us  knew  well.  He  was  not  a  business  man 
and  could  not  always  see  eye  to  eye  with  those 
trained  in  the  canons  of  commerce.  Inheriting 
from  his  father  some  old-fashioned  prejudices  re- 
garding a  mind  bent  only  on  pecuniary  profits, 
and  never  having  had  the  elements  of  practical 
business  principles  taught  him,  he  sometimes 
offended  when  he  meant  to  be  generous.  It 
would  have  been  better,  too,  for  his  household, 
perhaps,  had  he  given  a  little  more  attention  to 
that  "filthy  lucre,"  a  careful  use  of  which  so 
sweetens  the  relations  of  life  and  saves  from  un- 
due anxiety.  However,  none  more  than  himself 
grieved  over  this  lack  in  his  make-up.  Had  he 
been  better  trained  commercially,  he  would  not 

19 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

have  been  plundered  so  often  by  rascals,  both 
pagan  and  pseudo-Christians.  Generous  to  a 
fault,  he  was  often  imposed  upon. 

His  humor  was  keen,  sometimes  to  the  point 
of  cutting.  After  he  had  been  in  Japan  some 
thirty  years,  one  day  he  walked  the  platform  at  a 
country  station,  waiting  for  the  train.  A  kilted, 
barelegged  student  eyed  him  for  a  time,  then 
concluded  he  would  patronize  this  innocent  alien 
and  air  his  English.  With  that  superb  assurance 
which  is  the  unfailing  endowment  of  Japanese 
schoolboys,  this  eighteen-year-old  colt  swaggered 
near  and  shouted:  **  When  did  you  come  to  our 
country  ?  "  Dr.  Verbeck  adjusted  his  benevolent 
spectacles,  and,  after  a  calm  survey,  responded, 
in  choice  vernacular:  **  A  few  years  before  you 
did,  sir/'    It  is  said  that  the  student  retired. 

In  his  character  and  service  as  a  missionary, 
Verbeck  possessed  in  a  high  degree  the  gift  and 
power  of  mental  initiative.  He  knew  how  to 
begin.  There  was  no  Macawber  in  him.  He 
waited  not  when  work  called.  He  turned  things 
up.  I  have  often  heard  him  glory  even  to  exulta- 
tion in  the  glorious  freedom  and  the  power  of 
independent  work  possessed  by  a  pioneer  mis- 
sionary. As  a  builder  of  the  true  church  of  Christ 
in  Japan — the  church  of  souls,  of  faith  and  of 
righteousness,  rather  than  of  corporations,  names, 
and  creed  limitations,  Verbeck  was  sometimes  a 
trial  to  his  own  brethren.  He  was  not  only  a 
cosmopolitan  linguist  and  scholar,  but  his  Chris- 
tianity was  more  of  a  continental  than  of  an  in- 

20 


A  Glance  in  Perspective 

sular  type.  He  was  "  at  the  call  of  any  or  all  of 
his  brethren  of  whatever  Evangelical  Mission." 
He  saw  things  through  and  through,— the  cosmic 
currents  down  in  the  deeps,  rather  than  the  *'  un- 
numbered laughings  "  on  the  surface,— in  their 
issues  rather  than  in  their  temporary  relations. 
At  the  same  time  Verbeck  was  a  conservative 
both  in  theology  and  organization,  and  here  he 
had  marked  limitations.  It  will  be  generally 
agreed,  I  think,  that  he  was  the  master  mission- 
ary in  evangelism  and  in  the  importation  of  light 
and  life,  a  very  Fuji  Yama  in  the  loftiness  of  his 
gifts  and  powers  as  teacher,  preacher,  prophet, 
and  statesman. 

Yet  all  this  said,  his  abilities  as  actual  organizer 
belong  on  a  lower  level.  He  did  not  possess,  or 
apparently  wish  ever  to  gain,  those  gifts  of  manip- 
ulation and  adjustment,  or  that  organizing  fac- 
ulty which  enables  a  man  to  turn  his  profound 
connections  into  institutions.  He  cannot  be  said 
to  have  left  behind  him  pupils  upon  whom  his 
mantle  fell.  He  was  innately  sociable  and  his 
sociability  increased  with  his  years,  yet  he  had  no 
one  very  close  intimate  among  his  friends.  God 
called  him  to  do  great  and  mighty  work  in  the 
high  places  of  the  Spirit  on  Sinai,  rather  than  in 
Canaan,  and  this  work  he  did  well. 

The  Hfe  of  Guido  Verbeck  covers  three  periods. 
The  first  of  childhood  and  youth  covering  twenty- 
two  years,  from  1830  to  1852,  was  spent  at  Zeist, 
in  the  Netherlands.  His  early  manhood  as  civil 
engineer  and  theological  student  from  1852  to 
21 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

1839  was  passed  in  the  United  States,  the  former 
part  in  what  was  then  "  the  West  "  and  the  latter 
in  what  was  then  "  the  East."  The  third  period 
extended,  with  occasional  brief  intervals  of  ab- 
sence, through  nearly  thirty-nine  years,  from  1859 
to  1898. 

In  Dai  Nippon,  three  distinct  epochs  of  his  life 
are  also  to  be  noted.  The  first  decade,  spent  at 
Nagasaki,  was  as  the  toiling  of  a  miner  in  the 
deep  and  dark  places.  The  second  decennium  in 
the  new  capital,  Tokio,  was  passed  as  educator 
and  translator  in  the  service  of  the  Japanese 
government.  Then  followed  nearly  two  decades 
of  Bible  translation  and  the  direct  preaching  of 
the  gospel,  chiefly  in  evangelical  tours.  For  over 
twenty  years  he  supported  himself  and  his  fam- 
ily on  his  salary  paid  him  by  the  Japanese  govern- 
ment, so  that  he  was  during  this  time  at  his  own 
charges,  costing  the  Mission  Board  nothing.  In 
later  years,  as  a  laborer  under  the  Bible  societies 
and  Mission  Board  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
America,  he  was  worthy  of  his  hire. 

Guido  Verbeck  was  a  many-sided  man.  His 
intellectual  and  spiritual  inheritances  were  great. 
He  was  engineer,  teacher,  linguist,  preacher, 
educator,  statesman,  missionary,  translator, 
scholar,  gentleman,  man  of  the  world,  child  of 
his  own  age  and  of  all  the  ages.  Among 
those  in  Japan,  who  seemed  to  have  the  most 
confidence  in  and  respect  for  him,  were  persons 
of  rank  and  very  old  and  very  young  people  who 
are  thoroughly  conservative  still  as  to  habits  and 
22 


A  Glance  in  Perspective 

opinions.  Among  these  were  bigoted  Bud- 
dhists and  Shintoists.  who  knowing  Verbeck  to 
be  an  uncompromising  Christian  missionary,  yet 
always  honored  and  trusted  him  as  a  gentleman. 
Guido  Verbeck  was  also  the  father  of  a  family 
of  seven  children,  five  sons  and  two  daughters, 
six  of  whom,  surviving  to-day,  do  their  country 
honor,  serving  abroad  under  the  flag  as  soldier  or 
as  missionary,  teacher,  or  at  home  as  artist,  or  in 
business.  Amid  paganism,  he  represented  Christ 
and  Christendom  to  them. 

One  secret  of  his  power  among  Japanese,  high 
and  low,  was  that  he  always  regarded  the  self- 
respect  of  each  individual  with  whom  he  came 
into  contact.  One  of  his  traits  of  character  was 
an  extreme  unwillingness  to  exercise  his  will  in 
influencing  the  will  of  others.  He  respected  the 
right  of  each  individual  to  act  independently  too 
much  to  use  undue  influence  over  them.  Con- 
sequently, as  a  missionary  even,  he  would  never 
try  to  force  Christianity  on  a  Japanese.  With 
his  own  children  even,  he  avoided,  after  they  had 
reached  a  certain  age,  as  much  as  possible,  giv- 
ing a  direct  command.  "  He  would  give  advice 
to  us,"  said  one,   -but  rarely,  even  if  needed,  a 

command."  j  u  +u 

Verbeck's  is  one  of  those  names  honored  both 

by  foreigners  and  natives.     Though  he  was  a 

citizen  of  no  state,  three  countries  claim  him  as 

their  son.  u    u  w 

Verbeck  was  a  man  who  believed  with  ail  his 
heart  in  the  sufficiency  of  the  gospel,  the  good 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

news  of  God,  proclaimed  by  Jesus  Christ.  He 
was  too  honest  to  explain  it  away.  In  him  the 
historic  spirit  was  too  strong  to  dissipate  it  in 
vague  theories,  or  put  it  on  a  level  with  anything 
which  the  ancient  or  ethnic  teachers  have  ex- 
pounded. He  believed  that  twenty  centuries  had 
added  nothing  to  what  Jesus  had  taught  of  God 
and  man,  or  in  their  relations  one  to  the  other.  He 
did  heartily  believe  that  nineteen  centuries,  and 
especially  his  own  century,  had  added  vastly  to 
the  sum  of  man's  knowledge  in  other  subjects  of 
inquiry  and  revelation.  Denying  himself  other- 
wise many  luxuries  and  personal  enjoyment,  he 
never  hesitated  to  possess  himself  of  the  best 
works  in  philosophy,  science,  and  language,  so 
as  to  keep  abreast  with  the  best  thought  and  real 
knowledge  of  the  age. 

Verbeck  knew  well  the  shams  of  the  period. 
He  had  no  use,  in  the  transmission  of  his  message 
from  God,  for  what  some  men  imagine  to  be 
necessary ;  such,  for  example,  as  a  detailed  knowl- 
edge of  the  method,  manner,  and  results  of 
what  is  so  vulgarly  misunderstood  and  also  called 
the  higher  criticism,  or  of  comparative  religion, 
though  he  was  a  hearty  believer  in  the  legitimate 
use  of  both.  He  was  a  consummate  master  in 
the  art  of  literary  analysis  and  criticism.  He  was 
once  engaged  during  many  months  in  elaborate 
researches,  with  the  idea  of  publishing  a  book 
upon  literary  or  higher  criticism.  He  was  asked 
more  than  once  by  prominent  American  inquirers 
and  scholars  whether  for  successful  missionary 

24 


A  Glance  in  Perspective 

work,  especially  in  preaching,  he  did  not  feel  it 
necessary  to  study  thoroughly  the  native  religions 
of  Japan.  His  one  answer  was,  that  he  had  never 
considered  it  worth  while  to  spend  time  in  prov- 
ing to  the  Japanese  that  two  and  two  did  not 
make  five.  He  found  it  was  more  economical  in 
time  and  labor,  and  ultimately  far  more  effective, 
to  demonstrate  that  two  and  two  make  four,  and 
this  he  kept  on  doing  for  nearly  forty  years. 

Yet  Dr.  Verbeck  was  very  far  from  under- 
valuing native  thought,  history,  customs,  or  be- 
liefs. Indeed,  one  thing  that  made  him  a  past 
master  in  the  art  of  public  discourse,  able  to  hold 
his  Japanese  audiences  spellbound  for  hours,  and 
to  keep  their  eyes,  ears,  yes,  and  even  their 
mouths,  wide  open,  and  this  often  in  one  place 
night  after  night,  was  his  profound  knowledge 
of  the  heart  and  thought  of  his  audience.  He 
could  use  with  tremendous  effect  their  own 
proverbs,  gems  of  speech,  popular  idioms,  and 
the  epigrams  of  their  sages.  Often  he  "carried 
them  to  Paradise  on  the  stairways  of  surprise  " 
by  showing  how  their  own  great  men  had  groped 
after  the  essential,  even  as  he  was  leading  them 
to  the  historic,  Christ.  He  threw  great  floods  of 
light  on  themes  otherwise  abstruse  by  opening 
the  windows  of  illustration  from  their  own 
national  history.  I  once  heard  him  praise  glow- 
ingly Nicolai,  the  Russian  archimandrite,  (now 
bishop)  for  his  effective  use  of  Hideyoshi's  gourd- 
banner  in  illustration  of  the  magnetic  power  of 
the  cross.  Verbeck's  method  was  like  the  sliding 
25 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

back  at  daydawn  of  the  shoji,  (house-shutters)  so 
as  to  till  with  glorious  sunshine  and  perfumed  air 
the  room  of  night  and  sleep. 

Others  might  be  content  with  mere  fluency  or 
a  superficial  knowledge  of  things  Japanese.  Dr. 
Verbeck  always  kept  himself  familiar  with  the 
best  native  writing  and  the  classic  forms  of 
modern  speech.  While  many  others  would  be 
enjoying  social  relaxation,  or  the  newspapers, 
Dr.  Verbeck  would  have  in  hand,  whether  sitting 
on  the  porch  or  walking  in  the  garden,  a  copy  of 
some  standard  Japanese  author,  usually  Kaibara, 
reading  it  again  and  again  in  order  to  master 
literary  graces  as  well  as  lines  of  thought  and  ar- 
gument. He  knew  the  language  well,  both  in 
its  ancient,  mediaeval,  and  modern  form.  He 
loved  it  in  its  native  purity,  freshness  and  power, 
even  more  than  in  its  reinforcement  and  adorn- 
ment, yes,  even  its  weakening  and  degradation 
by  Chinese  infusion  and  adulteration. 

Hence  his  absolutely  unique  position  as  evan- 
gelist and  preacher  and,  possibly,  we  may  even 
add,  as  translator.  With  emphasis  the  natives 
called  him  Hakase,  professor,  or  most  learned 
man.  In  his  methods  of  turning  the  sublime 
Hebrew  and  plastic  Greek  into  a  clear  dignified 
and  enjoyable  Japanese,  he  was  like  Luther  and 
Tyndale.  These  had  in  mind  not  only  the 
scholar  but  also  the  plowboy.  Verbeck  knew 
the  speech  of  the  plain  people  as  well  as  of  those 
who  dwell  in  palaces.  He  could  confound  and 
humble  the  Chinese  pedants.  Seeing  them  in  his 
26 


A  Glance  in  Perspective 

audience,  these  lovers  of  "  words  of  learned  length 
and  thundering  sound,"  he  usually  made  them 
wonder  how  "  one  small  head  could  carry  all  he 
knew."  Then  after  a  little  fun  of  this  sort  he 
preached  the  gospel  in  plain,  clear,  fluent,  elegant 
language  "understanded  of  the  people."  I  re- 
member once  coming  to  Tokio,  after  a  year's 
stay  in  Echizen,  with  ears  well  attuned  and  re- 
sponsive to  local  lingo,  and  noting  at  once  the 
easy,  elegant,  and  dignified  colloquial  of  the 
master. 

Hence  it  is  that  above  the  ranges  and  table-land 
of  the  diction  of  the  Bible  in  Japanese — one  of 
the  most  successful  missionary  translations  ever 
made — the  work  of  Guido  Verbeck  on  the 
Psalms,  is  like  that  of  peerless  Fuji.  Other  peaks 
are  indeed  noble,  but  reach  not  the  highest  of  the 
**no  two  such." 

Yet  here  again,  we  note  human  limitations. 
As  Verbeck,  always  mightier  in  work  than  in 
word,  wrote  far  fewer  letters  than  his  friends  de- 
sired or  even  perhaps  justly  expected,  so  also  he 
committed  to  writing  few  if  any  of  those  ser- 
mons, which,  like  the  tempest  or  the  soughing 
of  the  wind  among  the  leaves  of  the  forest, 
moved  the  hearts  of  men  to  righteousness.  Did 
these  but  exist  in  print,  how  helpful  would  they 
be  to  those  who  admired  his  inimitable  style,  and 
hearing,  despaired.  Yet  had  they  now  the  text 
to  study  and  analyze,  many  might  become  what 
so  few  foreigners  are,  or  can  be,  either  fluent  or 
eloquent  preachers  in  Japanese. 

27 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Several  times,  when  living  in  Boston,  my 
genial  neighbor  and  friend  Dr.  Edward  Everett 
Hale,  the  author  of  "A  Man  Without  a  Country  " 
honored  me  by  calling  to  learn  the  latest  news  or 
earliest  light  upon  the  most  interesting  of  Asiatic 
countries.  He  was  particularly  eager  to  learn  the 
secret  of  Japan's  wonderful  renascence,  and  to 
find  out  why  her  people  showed  such  a  Uking 
for  what  we  usually  associate  with  "Anglo- 
Saxon  "  inheritances.  Possibly  this  sketch  of  Dr. 
Verbeck's  life  may  help  in  solving  the  fascinating 
riddle.  At  any  rate,  let  us  see  how  and  why 
Verbeck  of  Japan,  a  man  without  a  country, 
while  receiving  citizenship  of  none,  was  honored 
in  three  lands  and  by  one  uniquely. 


28 


II 

THE  KOPPEL 

The  name  Verbeck,  or,  more  properly  Verbeek, 
is  a  contraction  of  Van  der  Beck,  van  der  Beek, 
meaning,  from  the  brook  or  rivulet.  The  name 
is  essentially  Dutch,  the  prefix  ver  being  con- 
tracted from  van  der.  In  tracing  the  ancestry  of 
the  Verbecks  we  find  them  in  both  Holland  and 
Germany.  They  moved  back  and  forth,  east 
and  west,  between  the  Dutch  and  the  Deutsch. 
In  one  or  two  instances  they  married  in  the  land 
of  Luther,  though  belonging  to  the  land  of 
Erasmus. 

The  Verbeeks  are  found  allied  by  wedlock  with 
the  Van  Laer  and  Van  der  Vliet  families.  The 
latter  furnished  several  ministers  to  the  Reformed 
Church  and  at  one  time  dwelt  in  Embden,  where 
they  had  fled  before  Alva's  persecution.  On 
their  tombstones  in  the  church  at  Embden  are  the 
coats  of  arms  of  Cornelius  and  Samuel  Van  Laer, 
who  died  in  1654  and  17 12  respectively. 

The  Van  Laer  family  was  strong  in  religious 
culture  and  character.  Count  Von  Zinzendorf, 
leader  of  the  Moravians,  was  the  guest  at  the 
house  of  Jan  Van  Laer  in  Amsterdam  during 
several  of  his  visits.     In  1773,  when  the  Count 

would    found    a    Moravian    settlement    in    the 

29 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Netherlands,  Cornelius  Renatus  Van  Laer  (1731- 
1792),  who  greatly  favored  the  plan,  bought 
Zeist  from  his  wealthy  cousin  Schellinger,  and 
generously  assisted  the  Brethren. 

The  fact  that  Zeist  with  over  two  thousand 
acres  of  land  and  some  hundreds  of  houses  on  it, 
was  once  in  the  possession  of  the  Schellingers 
and  kter  the  Van  Laers,  shows  the  well-to-do 
conditions  of  the  two  families.  Jacob  Van  Laer, 
born  in  1663  was  Burgomaster  of  Zwolle,  the  city 
of  Thomas  a  Kempis,  in  which  also  "  The  Imita- 
tion of  Christ"  had  been  written.  In  1725  he 
was  Commissioner  of  the  Admiralty  in  Amster- 
dam and  in  1736  a  member  of  the  States-General. 
An  older  member  of  the  family  held  the  same 
office,  and  was  director  of  one  of  the  six  sections 
of  the  mighty  East  India  Company,  whose  huge 
buildings  remain  to  this  day  at  Delft,  their  sea- 
port being  Delfshaven,  whence  sailed  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  to  found  Massachusetts.  The  Verbeeks, 
were  prominent  and  wealthy  merchants  in  Am- 
sterdam. Through  their  alliances  with  the  Van 
Laers,  they  were  drawn  also  to  Zeist,  where  one 
of  them  built  a  house  on  the  square.  In  later 
generations,  some  of  the  Verbeeks  adhered  to 
the  Moravian  Community,  while  others  were 
Lutherans. 

Zeist  is  a  pretty  little  town  of  about  six  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  of  whom  about  thirty-five 
hundred  are  settled  inside  the  village  boundaries. 
It  lies  in  the  province  of  Utrecht,  a  few  miles  to 
the  westward  of  the  university  city  of  the  same 

30 


The    Koppel 

name,  the  village  being  reached  from  the  larger 
city  by  both  steam,  and  tram  or  horse  cars.  As 
early  as  a.  d.  838,  this  village  is  known  to  have 
existed,  being  just  on  the  western  border  of  a 
large  stretch  of  woodland.  In  1667  **the  house 
of  Zeist"  now  called  *'the  Castle,"  a  "deftig  ge- 
bouw  "  as  the  Dutch  say,  was  built  by  William 
of  Nassau,  the  lord  of  Odijk  and  Cortgene.  This 
magnificent  old  mansion,  still  standing  among 
lordly  trees  and  with  a  superb  park  attached  to 
it,  was  bought  in  1746  by  Mr.  C.  Schellinger  and 
in  1767  by  Marie  Agnes,  Countess  of  Zinzendorf 
and  second  daughter  of  the  famous  Count,  who 
afterward  married  Maurice  William,  Count  of 
Dohna.  Since  1862,  this  lordly  mansion  has 
been  possessed  by  the  late  Mr.  C.  B.  Labouchere, 
and  since  189 1,  many  are  my  happy  memories  of 
the  courtesy  and  bountiful  hospitality  of  the  host 
and  hostess  and  their  brilliant  and  accomplished 
sons  and  daughters,  who  move  within  the  first 
circles  of  Holland's  social  life.  Theirs  was  a 
typical  home,  rich  in  character,  ability,  and  piety. 
Yet  further  down  the  avenue  was  once  another 
home,  more  modest  and  less  known  to  wealth 
and  fame,  which  God  made  a  storage  battery  of 
spiritual  power  for  the  re-vitalizing  of  a  nation. 

In  1776  the  Moravian  Community,  which  had 
been  begun  at  Ijsselstein,  was  fixed  at  Zeist.  To- 
day their  houses,  of  the  sisterhood  on  one  side  of 
the  great  wide  avenue  of  planted  trees  and  of  the 
brotherhood  on  the  other,  form  the  chief  feature 
of  the  place.     In  this  community,  besides  the 

31 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

cultivation  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion,  in- 
dustry is  a  striking  characteristic. 

Tlie  Verbeeks,  as  tlie  older  and  proper  form  of 
the  name  and  as  chiselled  on  the  tomb  in  Tokio, 
may  be  traced  far  back  into  Dutch  history.  Suf- 
fice it  to  say  that  when  the  Moravian  settlement 
at  Zeist  wsls  formed  in  1776,  the  year  of  Ameri- 
can independence,  there  were  two  brothers  Jan 
and  Pieter,  sons  of  Jacob.  The  descendants  of 
the  latter  are  found  in  nearly  all  the  Moravian 
congregations  in  Germany.  Jan  did  not  remain 
in  such  friendly  feeling  with  Moravian  church 
government  and  though  he  did  not  himself  leave 
the  community  his  children  and  grandchildren 
did.  He  went  to  Germany,  but  later  the  family 
returned  to  Holland,  as  we  shall  see. 

Jan  Verbeek  (1709- 1763)  married  Anthonia 
Van  der  Vliet  (1709- 1744).  Their  grandson  Hen- 
drik  Jan  Verbeek  (1769-1817)  living  in  Saxony 
with  the  Moravian  Community,  withdrew  from 
it  and  married  Dorothea  Elizabeth  Henning  (1773- 
1848)  of  Celle,  Hanover.  The  couple  settled  at 
Cholsdorf,  where  their  older  children,  including 
Carl  Heinrich  Willem  (1769- 1864),  father  of  Ver- 
beck of  Japan  was  born.  Later  they  moved  to 
Hamburg  and  obtained  a  livelihood  from  a  vine- 
gar factory,  which  in  the  siege  of  the  city  by 
Napoleon  was  destroyed.  The  parents  then  fear- 
ing to  lose  their  son  by  military  conscription,  sent 
him  to  their  relatives  in  Zeist.  So  Carl  grew  up 
in  his  father's  sister's  house  in  the  Moravian 
Community. 

32 


The   Koppel 

At  "the  castle  "then  lived  Anna  Maria  Jaco- 
mina  Kellerman,  the  daughter  of  Coenraad  Wil- 
lem  Kellerman,  a  famous  Patriot.  Carl  Verbeek 
and  Ann  Kellerman,  parents  of  Guido  Verbeek 
were  married  in  1818,  and  lived  at  Rysenburg,  a 
little  village  southeast  of  Zeist,  of  which  the  hus- 
band, Carl  Verbeek  was  Burgomaster,  and  here 
four  of  their  children  were  born.  In  1827  they 
moved  to  Zeist,  occupying  the  house  called  "  the 
Koppel,"  in  which  four  more  of  their  offspring 
saw  the  light,  the  second  one  in  this  second 
group  of  four  being  Guido  Herman  Fridolin  Ver- 
beek, who  was  born  January  23d,  1830. 

From  his  father,  a  gentleman  of  fine  feelings, 
diffident  and  retiring,  the  future  maker  of  New 
Japan  inherited  his  simplicity  and  modesty.  To 
those  who  did  not  know  his  lion  heart,  these  at 
times  seemed  to  border  on  timidity.  With  both 
father  and  son,  it  was  Jesus-like  gentleness  that 
made  great.  Guido's  love  of  poetry  and  music 
came  from  his  mother,  a  woman  of  refinement 
and  culture.  Besides  the  piano  and  organ,  Guido 
Verbeek  played  well  on  the  violin  and  guitar, 
often  accompanying  his  sister  on  the  harp.  At 
the  mother  and  the  ancestral  roots  that  nourished 
her  being,  let  us  look. 

The  Kellermans  originated  in  Italy,  where  cen- 
turies ago  they  had  borne  the  name  of  Paravium. 
Accepting  early  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation, 
they  were  persecuted  as  heretics  and  fled  for 
their  lives.  One  of  them,  while  being  searched 
for  by  the  inquisitors,  hid  during  several  days  in 
33 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

a  cellar  at  Strasburg.  On  emerging,  to  baffle  his 
pursuers  and  secure  greater  safety,  he  secured 
asylum  under  the  name  of  Kellerman,  in  the  land 
in  which  he,  the  Anabaptists,  the  Pilgrim  Fathers 
and  the  Huguenots,  as  well  as  Jews  and  Catholics 
had  heard  and  found  that  **  there  was  freedom 
of  conscience  for  all  men." 

In  1788,  at  the  time  of  the  civil  strife  be- 
tween "  Patriots " ^  and  "Prince- Adherents,"  Mr. 
Coenraad  Willem  Kellerman,  one  of  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Italian  Bible  Christians,  was  living  in 
the  castle  at  Zeist.  Having  taken  the  side  of  the 
Patriots  or  Anti-Orangists,  he  had  to  leave  the 
Netherlands  when  the  Prussians  invaded  the 
country.  He  went  to  England.  He  was  twice 
wedded.  From  the  second  marriage  with  Maria 
Wilhelmina  van  der  Vliet,  was  born  Anna  Maria 
Jacomina  Kellerman,  the  mother  of  Guido  F. 
Verbeck.  Thus  in  the  veins  of  the  child  destined 
to  be  "the  foremost  teacher  of  the  Japanese" 
were  blended  Southern  fire  and  Northern  energy. 
The  best  inheritances  of  Latin  and  Germanic 
Christendom  met  in  the  man  who  gave  the 
Japanese  one  of  the  types  of  Christianity  in  a  life 
at  once  broad  and  deep.  The  ancestors  of  Ver- 
beck of  Japan  were  strenuous  in  that  one  com- 
mon faith  which  is  to  win  and  hold  Japan  also. 

The  hardiness  of  the  race  is  shown  in  Guido's 
Aunt  Miesje  (Cornelia  Marie  Kellerman),  who 
lived  to  be  nearly  a  century  old.     Though  she 

» See  De  Patriottentijd,  by  Dr.  H.  T.  Colenbrander,  Hague, 
1899. 

34 


The    Koppel 

was  very  small  in  stature,  her  mind  was  bright 
and  dear  until  the  last.  For  more  than  thirty 
years  she  was  the  lady  principal  or  inspectress  of 
the  Moravian  Young  Ladies'  Boarding  School  in 
Zeist,  beloved  and  respected  by  a  host  of  friends, 
parents,  scholars,  and  teachers.  In  her  latter 
years  though  quite  blind,  she  knitted  many  a 
stocking  for  those  in  need.  When  sight  failed, 
touch  was  revived  and  she  learned  to  read  the 
Bible  by  the  finger  with  the  help  of  raised 
letters. 

The  youngest  of  the  eight  children  and  the 
only  one  now  (in  1900)  living,  has  furnished 
the  biographer  with  reminiscences  of  the  Koppel, 
the  pretty  little  home,  in  which  Guido  Verbeck 
was  trained  for  his  life's  noblest  work.  Another, 
and  a  young  relative  who  has  called  it  *'a  sort  of 
El  Dorado,"  has  richly  reinforced  the  notes 
gathered  during  several  visits  to  Zeist,  its  com- 
munity, and  its  castle.  The  Koppel  stood  on  a 
gentle  knoll  well  embowered  among  trees,  with 
the  characteristic  canal  and  bridge  not  far  away 
and  with  dumb  domestic  creatures  generally  in 
sight  and  feeding  on  the  rich  grass.  A  dovecote 
prominent  in  the  foreground  was  of  royal  di- 
mensions and  contained  seven  hundred  pigeons. 

The  word  "Koppel"  occurs  in  many  places 
on  Dutch  maps.  Besides  Koppeldijk,  Koppel- 
rust,  and  Koppelsteeg  in  the  Netherlands,  we 
have  no  fewer  than  eight  towns  or  villages  with 
the  same  name. 

The  word  "Koppel"  is  the  same  as  the  Eng- 

35 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

lish  "couple."  It  means  a  brace.  Two  objects 
linked  together  in  idea  make  a  pair.  There  are 
two  Koppels  on  a  map  of  Utrecht  and  environs 
now  before  me,  and  also  the  Koppeldijk  and 
Koppelvaart,  the  names  being  given  because 
they  connect  two  water  or  land  paths.  If  there 
is  a  crossing  of  two  canals,  with  different  levels 
of  water  there  must  be  a  lock  or  sluice  near  by. 
This  means  waiting, — with  patience  also.  Al- 
most as  a  matter  of  course,  there  springs  up  in 
due  time  an  inn  for  the  boatmen  or  passengers, 
and  for  their  accommodation  and  refreshment. 
The  name  *'  Koppel "  is  thus  indicated  for  a  sign. 
Did  the  house  at  Zeist  take  its  name  from  the  old 
inn  on  the  dike,  in  times  long  gone,  the  name 
being  much  older  than  the  house?  Or,  is 
''Koppel"  the  popular  corruption  of  "Koepel," 
meaning  a  pavilion,  kiosk  or  summerhouse  in  a 
garden  ?    We  incline  to  the  former  view. 

To  make  their  eight  children  as  happy  as  pos- 
sible on  earth  and  to  fit  them  for  the  largest  use- 
fulness in  life,  was  the  chief  concern  of  the  par- 
ents. After  purchasing  the  Koppel,  the  next  aim 
was  to  make  it  lovely.  This  with  the  aid  of  a 
most  faithful  serving  man,  true  to  his  master 
during  thirty-six  years,  they  were  able  to  do. 
The  Creator  and  his  servants  wrought  together 
to  make  beauty.  The  house  and  home,  the 
Koppel  and  its  surroundings,  became  very  lovely 
to  the  eye.  Besides  the  elm-trees  reared  for 
shade,  forming  a  perfect  bower,  there  were  the 
choicest   pear-trees    and   flower  and  vegetable 

36 


The   Koppel 

gardens,  surrounded  by  a  double  hedge.  Thus 
there  were  fruit,  vegetables  and  nuts  in  abun- 
dance and  in  the  large  stable  was  the  hay  loft. 
Although  their  place  was  not  a  farm,  the  Ver- 
beeks,  besides  garden,  orchard,  and  meadow 
had  two  cows,  two  donkeys  with  cart  and  sad- 
dles and  a  white  mare,  "Fatima,"  that  carried 
the  father  of  the  home  and  the  Burgomaster  of 
Rysenburg  to  his  daily  tasks. 

Guido's  favorite  pets  were  the  two  colts, 
''Hector"  and  "Sylvan."  He  had  also  rabbits, 
geese,  ducks,  chickens,  and  a  most  gorgeous 
peacock  and  hen.  Nor  must  the  faithful  watch- 
dog "Castor,"  which  on  one  occasion  when 
Guido  was  absent,  went  out  and  searched  for 
him  two  days  and  returned  home  disconsolate, 
be  forgotten.  On  one  of  the  branches  of  the 
large  English  walnut-tree  there  was  a  swing.  In 
the  boathouse,  which  was  roomy  enough  for  all 
the  children  to  get  into,  there  was  a  rowboat. 
As  a  Dutch  rural  home  would  hardly  be  complete 
without  a  stork,  there  was  on  the  top  of  the  two 
high  elms  at  the  side  of  the  house  a  stork's  nest. 
As  sure  as  March  returned,  so  did  the  storks, 
heralds  of  summer.  Eight  times  also  did  the 
magic  stork  of  fairy  tale  visit  the  home  and  fill 
the  cradle.  The  Verbeeks  believed  in  the  bless- 
ings of  Psalm  cxxvii.,  and  their  quiver  was  full. 

In  this  home  of  love  and  affection  Guido  Ver- 
beck  passed  nearly  twenty-two  years  of  his  life. 
These  were  "the  days  of  heaven  upon  earth." 
Years  afterward  from  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin,  he 

37 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

sent  a  letter  to  his  youngest  sister,  giving  a  mem- 
ory-picture in  transfiguration  of  the  Koppel.  As 
he  was  very  fond  of  putting  down  his  thoughts 
in  verse  his  epistle  took  the  form  of  sixteen 
verses  of  eight  lines  each,  a  verse  being  devoted 
to  father,  mother,  and  to  each  of  his  sisters 
and  brothers.  In  after  years,  as  his  eye  of 
memory  ranged  along  that  perspective  of  the  past 
which  had  its  farthest  end  at  the  Koppel,  he 
wrote,  "We  lived  like  Jacob  did,  in  the  free 
Temple  of  Nature,  enjoying  the  garden,  the  fruit, 
the  flowers,  with  joy,  on  green  benches  between 
green  hedges.  And  after  sunset  when  the  stars 
were  sparkling,  then  we  brothers  and  sisters 
went  lovingly  arm  in  arm  and  passed  our  time  in 
garden,  wood,  or  quiet  arbor  enjoying  each 
other's  happiness  and  God's  peace. 

"The  winter  days  we  spent  mostly  on  the  ice, 
but  toward  evening  in  the  cozy  twilight  we 
gathered  around  the  warm  stove,  to  enjoy  with 
all  our  heart  our  Koppel  happiness.  Then  father 
told  us  many  a  story,  and  we  sang  many  good 
and  favorite  songs,  after  lamps  were  lit  we  all  en- 
gaged in  reading,  ate  apples,  nuts,  and  pears." 

Yet  this  was  a  home  without  luxury,  most  of 
the  household  work  being  done  by  the  inmates 
themselves.  It  was  plain  but  high  living.  Edu- 
cated, as  most  Dutch  boys  in  well-to-do  families 
are,  to  use  fluently  and  exactly  the  four  languages, 
Dutch,  English,  French,  and  German,  Guido  Ver- 
beck was  able  all  his  life  long  to  use  these  freely. 
He  chose  one  or  the  other,  as  he  desired,  for  the 

38 


The   Koppel 

particular  purpose  of  conversation,  business,  de- 
votion, or  the  expression  of  the  heart's  deepest 
feelings.  For  this  last,  he  always  employed  Ger- 
man. In  after  life  it  was  a  puzzle  to  Guido  Ver- 
beck  that  some  people  with  very  little  culture 
could  put  on  great  airs,  because  perchance  they 
might  have  a  little  money  or  employ  servants. 

In  after  life  one  who  knew  Verbeck  of  Japan 
by  daily  intimacy  wrote:  "I  have  often  heard 
Mr.  Verbeck  say  that  the  Koppel  spoilt  him  for  his 
after  life.  In  reading  books  of  old-fashioned 
country  life  such  as  described  by  Jane  Austen  in 
her  novels,  and  Mrs.  Gaskell  in  Crawford,  I  have 
often  heard  him  remark  how  much  they  reminded 
him  of  the  social  life  in  Zeist  in  his  childhood. 

"  He  had  a  sweet  and  gentle  attractiveness  that 
babies  and  all  animals  and  birds  found  irresistible. 
He  loved  children  and  was  happy  in  their  com- 
pany.    He  could  entertain  them  with  charming, 
old-fashioned    little   fables    and  stories  he    had 
heard  in  his  boyhood.     He  condemned  severely 
cruelty  to  animals,  and  said  that  in  his  family  the 
children  had  been  taught  from  infancy  just  how 
to  handle  and  treat  domestic  animals.     He  often 
said  when  feeding  a  cat  or  a  dog,  '  We  are  as  a 
god  to  these  poor  animals;  they  depend  upon  us 
and  look  up  to  us  as  we  do  to  a  deity.'    His  love 
of  nature,  and  the  beauties  of  nature,  was  strong. 
He  loved  to  go  out  into  Nature  and  commune 
with  her,  but   he  did   not  prefer  a  permanent 
abode   in   the  country.     As  he  grew  older  his 
sociability  seemed  to  increase.     He  liked  small 

39 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

companies  of  friends,  but  disliked  large  public 
gatherings  or  entertainments.  He  enjoyed  games 
of  all  sorts  in  the  evening.  In  his  own  family  in 
boyhood  he  was  accustomed  to  pleasant  social 
gatherings  and  evening  card  parties.  Passion- 
ately fond  of  music,  he  was  a  good  critic  of  it 
too,  and  delighted  in  finished  execution.  He 
was  a  good  chess-player.  He  did  not  care  for 
riding  on  horseback,  but  was  extremely  fond  of 
watching  the  motions  of  a  fine  horse,  and  of  see- 
ing trained  horses  perform.  His  father  had  been 
a  good  horseman,  and  in  his  youth  he  himself 
had  had  opportunities  of  riding  a  good  deal." 

The  happy  years  sped  on  golden  wings.  Then 
parting,  sickness,  and  death  broke  up  the  home. 
The  Koppel  passed  into  the  hands  of  strangers. 
After  some  years  the  grounds  were  turned  into 
ordinary  meadow  land.  Nothing  of  house  or 
home  now  remains  except  a  few  trees  and  a  new 
pigeon  house. 

Such  changes  in  Holland  are  less  common  than 
in  a  new  country  and  the  loss  of  his  home  was  a 
great  grief  to  Guido,  especially,  who  had  hoped 
to  make  it  his  own  and  keep  his  father  in  com- 
fort all  his  life.  He  wrote  in  after  years, — in  a 
strain  not  to  be  interpreted  too  literally  by  those 
who  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  Fifty-first 
Psalm  or  "conviction  of  sin,"  "I,  oh  I  was  full 
of  hopeful  expectations,  how  I  did  dream  of 
great  and  noble  deeds.  To  me  life  was  all  beauty, 
light,  and  goodness,  and  oh!  what  use  did  I 
make  of  these  gifts?    Until  to-day,  they  only 

40 


The   Koppel 

brought  to  me  sin  and  disappointment  and  cares 
to  those  I  should  have  supported.  But  thanks  to 
the  Father,  whose  earnest  voice  still  calls  me  to 
His  love  and  truth," 

So  happy  a  childhood  was  not  very  eventful. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  a  chronic  mystery  how  boys 
are  reared.  Is  it  not  a  wonder  that  any  of  them 
escape  the  consequences  of  their  daring  and  ever 
come  to  mature  life  ?  Baby  boy  Guido  had  one 
hair-breadth  escape.  In  Holland  the  landscape  is 
marked  off  by  ditches  instead  of  fences,  for  here 
the  earth  is  like  a  sponge.  When  only  two  years 
old,  Guido  fell  into  one-of  the  many  trenches  on 
the  Koppel,  tumbling  off  the  little  bridge  that  led 
to  the  meadow,  where  his  brother,  with  the  donkey 
then  was.  Happily  for  Japan  and  humanity, 
the  well-soused  baby  was  picked  up  half  frozen 
and  almost  drowned.  Put  to  bed  with  his 
mother,  he  was  warmed  and  fondled  until  the 
doctor  arrived. 

Though  Guido  Verbeck's  father  had  been  born 
in  Germany,  and  he  and  many  of  his  relations 
were  Lutherans,  yet  there  was  no  Lutheran 
church  in  Zeist.  Attendance  at  worship  was  al- 
ways with  the  Moravians  among  whom  also  were 
many  relatives.  The  five  elder  Verbeck  children, 
one  after  the  other,  were  sent  in  due  time  to  their 
uncle,  a  Lutheran  minister  in  Amsterdam,  to  be 
instructed  and  confirmed,  but  Guido  and  his 
younger  brother  had  the  privilege  of  being  con- 
firmed together  in  the  Moravian  church  at  Zeist 
and  there  admitted  to  the  holy  communion.   This 

41 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

was  much  more  congenial  to  his  taste,  as  from 
his  infancy  he  had  attended  that  church,  literally 
imbibing  from  her  bosom  his  missionary  spirit. 

To  show  how  nobly  committed  to  take  Jesus 
seriously  and  obey  His  commands,  the  Moravians 
were  and  are,  it  was  no  unusual  thing  for  pupils 
in  the  Zeist  school  to  have  their  teacher  suddenly 
receive  a  call  to  go  to  Labrador,  or  Greenland,  or 
the  West  Indies.  It  was  also  as  inspiring  as  it 
was  interesting  to  see  and  meet  the  veteran 
missionaries  returning  from  their  distant  fields, 
often  bringing  a  dozen  children  from  other  mis- 
sionaries with  them  to  be  taken  to  Germany  to 
school.  Thus  they  were  to  be  separated  from 
their  parents  for  years.  Such  lives  of  self-denial 
made  deep  impressions  upon  the  Verbeck  chil- 
dren. Gutzlaff  of  China  was  especially  inspiring 
to  young  Guido. 

As  soon  as  they  were  old  enough  to  cross 
"the  ten  ditches  "  on  their  way  to  school,  they 
were  sent  to  the  Moravian  Institute  to  be  taught. 
Very  happy  were  those  school  days,  during 
which  Guido  made  rapid  progress  in  all  his 
studies,  especially  the  three  languages,  Dutch, 
French,  and  German.  As  many  of  the  boarding 
scholars,  both  boys  and  girls,  were  English,  the 
Verbeek  children  picked  up  that  language,  before 
they  began  studying  it  in  books  and  the  English- 
speaking  children  were  often  guests  at  the 
Koppel.  Guido  took  particular  care  with  him- 
self and  younger  sister  to  get  a  good  pronunci- 
ation.   One  of  his  favorite  sentences,   oft  re- 

42 


The   Koppel 

peated  in  order  to  train  the  tongue  from  slipping 
from  the  soft  th  to  the  hard  /  was  this,  which  he 
made  his  sister  also  repeat  over  and  over  again: 
"I  thrust  the  thistle  in  my  side  and  the  thorn  in 
my  thumb,"  or  "  Theophilus  Thistle  thrust  three 
thousand  thistles  into  the  thick  of  his  thumb." 
Hence  it  was  that  in  after  years  in  America,  few 
people  suspected  that  the  brother  and  sister  had 
been  Hollanders. 

The  Koppel  was  a  hospitable  home  and  many 
were  the  guests,  both  friends  and  strangers,  as 
well  as  relatives  from  Zeist  and  neighboring 
cities.  There  was  always  room  for  more  at  the 
large  mahogany  table  indoors,  through  the  nine 
months  of  cool  weather,  or  around  the  green 
table  set  out  under  the  large  old  English  walnut- 
tree  before  the  house,  where  in  summer  the 
morning  and  evening  meals  were  enjoyed.  In- 
deed, both  the  Koppel  and  the  Koppel  family 
were  centres  of  popularity. 

Every  season  had  its  attractions.  The  coming 
of  the  storks,  the  sweet  smelling  flowers,  life 
under  the  trees,  the  delicious  Dutch  vegetables, 
the  luscious  berries,  such  as  Holland  only  can 
produce,  marked  the  spring  and  early  summer. 
Then  in  summer  and  autumn,  the  ripening  fruits, 
the  baskets  full  of  nuts,  and  the  roasted  pigeons, 
ducks,  and  geese  were  shared  with  city  re- 
lations. In  the  outdoor  games  both  young  and 
old  joined,  while  in  the  beautiful  moonlight  even- 
ings the  sweet  Dutch  and  German  songs  and 
music  made,  with  a  wonderful  variety  of  other 

43 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

delights,  a  round  of  enjoyment  such  as  only  can 
be  found  in  a  large  family. 

The  winters  were  no  less  attractive.  From 
early  childhood  the  children  watched  the  weather 
vanes  to  see  if  the  north  wind  would  blow,  so 
that  they  might  have  ice  to  skate  on.  If,  after 
the  ice  was  strong  enough  to  hold  them,  the 
snow  would  fall  to  disappoint,  how  glad  they 
were  to  see  their  faithful  servant  with  his  big 
broom  clear  off  enough  space  to  skate  on.  All 
in  the  family,  except  the  mother,  could  glide 
over  the  ice  on  steel.  They  were  taught  and 
obliged  to  skate  gracefully,  as  it  was  the  father's 
motto,  "  whatsoever  is  worth  doing  at  all,  is 
worth  doing  well."  In  times  of  severe  frost, 
when  the  rivers  were  frozen  over,  the  young 
folks  and  sometimes  the  whole  family  would 
start  out  in  the  morning  with  friends  and  move 
gaily  over  many  leagues  of  ice,  returning  in  the 
evening  '*  without  ever  being  tired."  It  was  the 
custom  with  the  Verbeeks  to  celebrate  with 
plenty  of  fun  and  gifts  the  birthday  of  each  one 
in  the  family. 

One  of  Guido's  summer  delights  was  in  walk- 
ing. When  young  city  cousins  were  staying  at 
the  Koppel,  he  made  quite  long  expeditions. 
About  two  hours'  tramp  from  Zeist,  there  was  a 
high  mound  which  the  soldiers  of  Napoleon  had 
reared  during  the  French  occupation.  The  boy 
Guido  proposed  a  stroll  thither,  in  order  to  see 
the  sunrise.  The  lads  and  lassies  had  to  start 
very  early,  while  it  was  yet  dark,  and  the  high- 

44 


The   Koppel 

way  was  not  only  very  lonely,  but  the  greater 
part  of  it  lay  through  gloomy  woods.  Yet  the 
more  the  mystery,  the  more  the  fun.  To  cheer 
up  his  companions  and  beguile  the  time,  the 
young  leader  proposed  telling  stories.  These, 
whether  fairy  tales  or  extemporaneous,  were  in 
harmony  with  the  environment,  so  that  as  the 
woods  grew  thicker  and  darker,  the  lore  became 
more  sober  and  mysterious.  This  made  the 
young  folks  draw  all  the  closer  to  their  guide  and 
protector.  At  last  the  pyramid  was  in  sight  and 
after  climbing  to  the  top,  these  young  dwellers 
in  the  flat  land  of  the  European  Egypt,  saw  the 
sunrise  in  all  its  glory.  Then  after  rest  and  re- 
freshments, they  reached  home  in  time  for  break- 
fast, full  of  admiration  for  the  courage  of  Guido. 

Probably  no  body  of  Christians  hold  more 
beautiful  and  impressive,  albeit  simple  services, 
appropriate  to  Passion  Week,  than  the  Moravians. 
At  each  recurring  anniversary  of  the  Saviour's 
rising,  at  Zeist  as  at  Bethlehem  in  Pennsylvania, 
the  early  morning  found  them  at  break  of  day, 
first  in  the  church  and  then  in  the  cemetery. 
The  young  hearts  of  the  children  were  filled  with 
peculiar  joy  and  expectation,  when  the  Easter 
music  burst  upon  the  air  as  the  sun  greeted  their 
vision. 

The  happiest  day  of  the  year  was  the  day  of 
the  birth  of  the  Son  of  Man.  After  the  early 
Christmas  Eve  service,  held  especially  for  the 
children,  each  of  whom  received  a  lighted  candle 
and  sang  Hosannas  in  response  to  the  choir,  they 
45 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

walked  home  full  of  expectations  as  to  what 
they  should  find.  They  were  never  disappointed. 
There  was  the  Christmas  tree  glorious  with  lights 
and  pendant  with  glittering  decorations.  Beneath 
the  tables  were  spread  the  many  presents. 

Although  the  Verbecks  at  Zeist,  of  the  male 
line,  had  no  German  blood  in  them  and  were 
true  Dutch  people,  using  the  vernacular  fluently 
and  correctly  and,  when  away  from  home,  writ- 
ing to  each  other  in  Dutch,  they  always  spoke 
German  at  home,  for  many  of  their  relatives  and 
most  of  the  Moravian  people  at  Zeist  were  Ger- 
man-speaking people.  It  was  no  smattering  of 
language  that  the  Verbecks  received.  Guido,  the 
future  translator  of  the  Code  Napoleon  and  of 
Bluntchli,  as  well  as  of  the  Book  of  books,  mas- 
tered, also  the  literature  of  each  tongue.  He  was 
all  his  life  especially  fond  of  poetry.  It  is  no 
wonder  then  that  Guido  called  German  his  heart 
language.  Yet  it  was  conscientiously  and  with 
delight  that  the  Verbeeks  often  sang: 

"  Wien  Neerlandsch  bloed  in  de  aderen  vloeit, 
Van  vreemde  smetten  vrij."  » 

Enough  has  already  been  made  manifest,  of 
Guido  Verbeck's  early  home  life,  to  show  how 
therein  he  was  grandly  fitted  for  the  amazing 
polyglot  labors  of  nearly  forty  years  in  Japan, 
and  to  reveal  the  secret  also  of  his  resources  of 
recuperation. 

1  Whose  Netherlandish  blood  flows  in  his  veins,  free  from 
alien  stain. 

46 


The   Koppel 

Guido  Verbeck  was  born  in  the  year  1830,  sig- 
nalized by  the  construction  of  the  first  railway  in 
Europe.  This  marked  the  beginning  of  a  new 
era  in  mechanical  engineering.  "A  few  years 
later,  when  the  time  came  for  deciding  upon  a 
future  profession  for  the  boy  Guido,  a  family 
council  was  called,  and  it  was  unanimously 
agreed  that  engineering  was  the  'coming  pro- 
fession' and  the  one  for  which  he  should  be 
trained." 

After  graduating  from  the  Moravian  School,  he 
entered  the  Polytechnic  Institute  of  Utrecht,  com- 
ing especially  under  the  care  of  Professor  Grotte. 
He  had  a  short  experience  in  the  foundry  at  Zeist, 
for  the  production  of  bronze,  brass,  and  artistic 
iron  work.  He  made  also  some  attempts  at  im- 
proving the  methods  of  coffee  roasting.  Prob- 
ably in  his  opinion,  as  in  that  of  most  Americans, 
the  Dutch  overdo  the  browning  of  the  berry,  even 
to  blackness.  Yet  after  all,  Zeist  seemed  to  the 
expanding  ambition  of  the  young  Dutchman  a 
pent-up  Utica.  America,  the  land  of  opportu- 
nity, beckoned  and  he  saw  and  heeded. 


47 


Ill 

IN  THE  LAND  OF  OPPORTUNITY 

It  was  through  the  suggestion  and  invitation 
of  his  brother-in-law,  Rev.  George  Van  Deurs, 
backed  by  the  Rev.  Otto  Tank,  son  of  a  Scandi- 
navian nobleman,  who  had  been  a  Moravian  mis- 
sionary in  the  West  Indies  and  who  was  living  at 
Green  Bay,  Wisconsin,  that  Guido  Verbeck  set 
his  face  toward  America.  Mr.  Tank  having  mar- 
ried a  wealthy  Dutch  lady  in  Zeist  ^  intended  with 
his  means  and  opportunities  to  establish  near  Fort 
Howard,  across  the  Fox  river,  a  model  town. 
Being  very  benevolent,  he  hoped  to  do  a  great 
good  by  helping  young  Hollanders  to  larger  op- 
portunities of  life. 

Guido  left  Holland  on  the  2d  of  September, 
1852,  and  was  met  on  his  arrival  in  New  York 
by  Mr.  Tank  who  induced  him,  with  two  other 
promising  countrymen  of  his,  to  go  to  Tank- 
town,  near  Green  Bay,  Wisconsin.  They  were 
to  employ  their  talent  in  the  foundry  which  Mr. 
Tank  had  set  up  with  the  idea  of  building  ma- 
chinery for  steamboats  to  help  in  developing  the 
West.    Guido's  letter  in  Dutch  written  to  his 

^  The  Tank  Home  for  Missionary  Children  at  Oberlin,  Ohio, 
and  the  Tank  Library  of  Dutch  Literature  at  Madison,  Wis- 
consin, take  their  name  from  Mrs.  Tank. 
48 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

sister  Aline  from  Fort  Howard,  opposite  Green 
Bay,  and  dated  January  19th,  1853,  tells  of  his 
experiences. 

"Passing  through  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  I  spent  a 
happy  fortnight  with  Minna  (his  sister  who  lived 
there.  She  had  left  home  a  year  before  and  was 
married  to  Mr.  P.  C.  Van  Laer.)  On  Saturday 
the  first  of  November,  I  left  Auburn  for  Buffalo, 
much  admiring  the  country  through  which  I 
passed.  I  was  astonished  to  find  a  seaport  a 
hundred  miles  inland,  with  many  steamers  and 
two-  and  three-masters." 

Waiting  until  the  6th  of  November,  the  young 
Dutchman  got  on  board  a  steamer  for  Green  Bay. 
After  a  stormy  day  on  Lake  Erie,  she  had  to  re- 
turn, starting  again  the  following  Monday,  ar- 
riving at  Cleveland  on  Thursday,  leaving  that 
same  night,  but  getting  into  a  gale  that  carried 
off  the  smoke  stack  and  the  rudder  chains,  leav- 
ing the  vessel  to  drift  helplessly  during  four  days. 
With  land  only  two  miles  away  but  without 
any  possibility  of  reaching  it,  the  passengers  and 
officers  were  every  moment  on  the  lookout  for 
help.  To  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  be 
drowned  upon  a  lake  was  a  prospect  that  im- 
pressed Guido  both  solemnly  and  ludicrously. 
The  errant  steamer  was  finally  taken  in  tow  by 
an  iron  government  warship  and  brought  back 
to  Cleveland.  From  this  city,  first  by  steamer 
and  rail,  and  then  by  wagon  and  sleigh  over  the 
worst  roads  imaginable,  the  weather  beaten  voy- 
ager arrived  on  the  23d  of  November,  very  much 
49 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

out  of  pocket,  but  with  a  warm  welcome  by 
Mr.  Tank. 

He  soon  found,  however,  that  Tanktown  was 
not  the  place  for  him  to  stay  in  always.  He 
writes:  "I  must  see  more  of  America  and  be 
where  I  can  improve  myself.  I  am  determined 
to  become  a  good  Yankee."  Thus  early,  he  was 
in  process  of  becoming  an  **  Americanized  Dutch- 
man," a  product  that  often  in  sterling  qualities, 
excels  the  average  original  element  in  either 
Holland  or  America. 

This  he  further  proved  in  one  way,  as  thou- 
sands of  Netherlanders  and  other  Continental 
Europeans  in  England  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teeth  centuries  did  before  him,  and  as  thousands 
do  now  in  the  United  States.  He  made  his  name 
quickly  intelligible  to  American  eyes  as  well  as 
ears.  Tired  of  repeatedly  pronouncing  his  name 
in  proper  Dutch  style,  he  changed  the  spelling 
from  Verbeek  (which  sounded  as  Verbake)  and 
made  its  orthography  to  suit  English-speaking 
people.  "  Verbeck"  was  the  nearest  in  sound  to 
the  original.  So  ''Verbeck"  he  continued  to 
use,  sacrificing  history  to  convenience.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  the  Japanese  were  all  the  more  able  to 
apprehend  and  pronounce  his  name  because  of 
the  modified  orthography.  It  is  Verbeek,  that  is 
sculptured  upon  his  monument  in  Tokio,  but  in 
history  it  is  Verbeck  of  Japan. 

In  other  ways  not  a  few,  and  almost  invariably 
for  the  better,  Guido  became  "an  Americanized 
Dutchman." 

50 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

On  November  ist,  1853,  he  came  to  Brooklyn 
where  his  sister  Selma  was  living  as  the  wife  of 
Reverend  George  Van  Deurs.  He  was  in  hopes 
of  finding  something  in  New  York  more  con- 
genial to  his  taste,  but,  shortly  after,  receiving  an 
offer  to  go  as  an  engineer  to  Helena,  Arkansas, 
he  accepted  the  offer.  He  went  first  with  his 
brother-in-law  to  Philadelphia,  spending  a  week 
there  in  seeing  the  wonders  of  that  great  city 
founded  by  the  son  of  a  Dutch  mother. 

His  initial  letter  from  Helena,  Arkansas,  written 
on  the  4th  of  November,  1853,  shows  him  busily 
engaged  in  drawing  plans  of  bridges  and  in 
making  maps  and  various  kinds  of  engineering 
calculations.  When  he  saw  the  poor  slaves, 
working  in  the  cotton  fields  all  day  and  even  on 
Sundays,  his  growing  Americanism  received  a 
chill.  He  longed  for  more  food  for  the  soul, 
hungered  for  good  preaching  of  the  gospel.  He 
declared  he  would  gladly  walk  twenty  miles  to 
hear  Mr.  Beecher  or  Dr.  Wadsworth  preach.  He 
saw  much  that  was  genuine  and  inspiring  in 
American  religion,  but  he  noted  that  much  also 
was  done  for  show.  He  did  not  enjoy  the  hot 
climate  of  Arkansas. 

The  doctor  warned  him  that  when  summer 
came  he  would  be  sure  to  get  congestive  fever  or 
chills,  but  he  answered  by  saying  that  before  this 
should  happen,  he  would  jump  on  a  steamer  and 
escape.  Nevertheless  on  the  i8th  of  June  the 
stalking  fever  reached  him.  He  had  to  go  to 
bed,  remaining  there  until  the  24th  of  July,  sutTer- 

51 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

ing  reduction  to  the  similitude  of  a  skeleton.  He 
sunk  the  little  capital  which  he  had  accumulated 
in  doctors'  bills  and  nursing,  yet  he  was  very 
grateful  for  his  recovery,  for  many  young  men 
around  him  had  died  of  cholera. 

This  sickness  was  a  turning  point  in  Guide 
Verbeck's  career.  As  he  more  than  once  told  his 
relatives,  he  promised  God  that  if  restored  to 
health,  he  should  consecrate  his  life  to  service  in 
the  missionary  field.  How  well  he  kept  his 
vow,  all  know. 

When  able  to  walk  again,  he  decided  to  return 
to  Wisconsin,  where  his  sister  and  brother-in- 
law  were  living.  He  was  not  able  to  leave 
Helena  for  Green  Bay  until  August  ist.  He  came 
without  any  formulated  plans  for  the  future,  but 
largely  because  his  sister  and  brother-in-law 
were  anxious  to  have  him  with  them.  After  a 
long  rest,  which  he  greatly  enjoyed,  he  accepted 
charge  of  Mr.  Tank's  foundry,  spending  the 
winter  of  1854  and  1855  very  happily.  Then 
came  the  call,  from  no  earthly  master,  to  a  differ- 
ent sort  of  service. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  other  end  of  the  earth 
and  see  what  that  service  was. 

The  Crimean  war,  which  in  Europe  was  chiefly 
confined  to  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea,  had  its 
echoes  in  Japanese  waters,  even  in  Nagasaki 
harbor.  The  French  and  British  fleets  had  en- 
tered the  Black  Sea  January,  1854,  and  war  was 
declared  late  in  March.  Early  in  September,  1854, 
Rear-Admiral  Sir  James  Sterling  came  to  Naga- 

52 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

saki  with  men-of-war.  Intimating  that  hostili- 
ties might  take  place  in  the  waters  of  Japan  he 
requested  also  the  privilege  of  obtaining  supplies. 
Permission  was  given  by  the  Bakufu,  or  Yedo 
Government,  to  make  the  ports  of  Hakodate  in 
the  north  and  Nagasaki  in  the  south,  ports  of 
call  and  supply.  Lord  Sterling  remained  in  the 
harbor  somewhat  over  a  month,  during  which 
time  there  was  intense  excitement  among  the 
Japanese,  and  the  Bakufu  was  as  anxious  to  pre- 
vent any  of  their  people  from  getting  out  as  to 
hinder  foreigners  from  getting  in. 

To  guard  the  coast  and  keep  up  both  the  policy 
of  exclusion  and  inclusion,  the  daimio  or  baron 
of  Hizen  was  given  charge  of  the  work  of  de- 
fence and  surveillance.  He  appointed  one  of  his 
karo,  or  ministers,  named  Murata,  a  brave  and 
trusty  officer  whose  title  was  Wakasa  no  Kami, 
that  is,  the  honorary  lord  of  Wakasa.  In  those 
days  titles  did  not  mean  necessarily  either  rank, 
revenue,  or  office.  Murata  posted  his  troops  at 
advantageous  points,  and  set  a  cordon  of  boats 
around  the  harbor,  so  that  no  hungry  scholar 
eager  for  knowledge,  or  student  hoping  to  slip 
out  from  Japan  to  see  the  world,  could  break  the 
blockade  and  get  aboard  the  English  ships. 
Japan  was  then  like  a  dwarf  pine-tree,  laboriously 
prevented  from  growing,  kept  only  as  big  as 
one's  fist,  with  tap  root  cut  and  sunshine,  air  and 
moisture  excluded  or  allowed  only  in  doles. 
Neither  light  nor  knowledge  was  then  desired  by 
the  government.    Nevertheless,  though  Deshima, 

53 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

the  little  island  in  front  of  the  city,  on  which  a 
dozen  Dutchmen  were  allowed  to  live  and  trade, 
was  like  a  horn  or  dark  lantern,  it  gave  Hght. 
Wakasa  was  powerfully  impressed  by  a  picture 
of  the  siege  of  Sebastopol  given  him  by  a  Dutch- 
man. He  asked  many  questions  as  to  the  secrets 
of  power  possessed  by  Christian  nations  and 
whence  and  how  they  had  attained  such  vigor. 

Wakasa  frequently  went  out  by  night  and  day 
in  a  boat  to  inspect  personally  the  means  of  de- 
fence and  of  guard.  On  one  of  these  excursions 
he  saw  floating  on  the  water  a  little  book,  which 
in  type,  binding,  and  language,  was  different 
from  anything  he  had  ever  seen.  Curiosity  at 
once  seized  him  to  know  what  it  contained. 
After  much  inquiry,  conducted  with  wariness, 
one  of  the  interpreters,  able  to  talk  Dutch  and 
read  words  printed  in  European  letters,  told  him 
that  it  was  about  the  Creator  of  the  universe,  and 
Jesus,  who  taught  His  mind  and  truth,  and  that 
there  was  much  also  between  its  pages  about 
morals  and  religion.  All  this  only  whetted  the 
governor's  desire  to  know  the  whole  contents. 
He  sent  one  of  his  men  named  Eguchi  Baitei  to 
Nagasaki,  professedly  to  study  medicine,  but  in 
reality  to  find  out  from  the  Dutch  more  of  the 
book,  and  they  told  him  much.  When  he  heard 
there  was  a  translation  of  this  book  into  Chinese, 
he  sent  a  man  over  to  China  and  secured  a  copy. 
Murata's  home  was  in  Saga,  the  castle  city  and 
capital  of  Hizen,  and  there  with  the  Chinese  trans- 
lation he  began  the  study  of  the  New  Testament. 

54 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

He  waited  patiently  for  the  unknown  teacher  to 
come,  who  was  then  in  America. 

The  life  in  Green  Bay  was  very  lonely  to  Guide 
Verbeck  in  a  raw  country  far  from  the  home  land, 
and  especially  after  his  sister  had  left  him.  Some- 
times the  homesick  young  Hollander  would  bow 
his  head  on  his  desk  and  shed  tears,  as  he  remem- 
bered "the  Koppel."  Yet  the  exile  sang  songs 
of  hope  in  the  strange  land.  The  sensitive  young 
man  found  company  with  dogs  and  spiders,  but 
not  with  bears.  Of  Mr.  Tank's  large  dog  called 
**  Watch,"  he  made  a  companion.  The  dog  fol- 
lowed Guido  about  wherever  he  went.  One 
afternoon  as  he  was  walking  in  the  woods  with 
Watch  only,  he  met,  when  about  fifteen  minutes' 
distance  from  the  house,  a  large  bear.  Mutually 
surprised,  Bruin  and  Guido  looked  at  each  other 
for  a  moment,  not  knowing  exactly  what  to  do. 
Then  the  bear,  seeing  the  dog,  retreated.  The 
man,  believing  discretion  the  better  part  of  valor, 
retreated  also.  Both  parties  turning  their  backs 
on  each  other  were  not  desirous  of  meeting  again. 

The  laws  of  heredity  were  well  illustrated  in 
Guido  Verbeck.  His  mother  was  peculiarly  fond 
of  the  arachnidae,  and  so  was  he.  There  was  a 
pet  spider  in  his  room  and  the  young  exile  from 
home  would  not  allow  any  one  to  do  it  harm. 
Coming  back  from  his  work,  he  would  play  the 
violin,  when  the  spider  would  be  sure  to  come 
out  of  its  hiding-place,  to  Guido's  great  amuse- 
ment. The  creature  seemed  to  enjoy  the  concert 
given  for  its  own  benefit. 

55 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

It  is  written  by  a  sacred  poet  '*  The  Lord  looseth 
the  prisoner.  The  Lord  openeth  the  eyes  of  the 
blind."  There  is  a  reason  why  the  caged  bird  born 
of  migratory  parents  will  beat  its  breast  bloody 
in  its  attempt  to  obey  the  law  of  its  being  and  fly 
northward  or  southward  with  the  changing  sea- 
sons. As  matter  of  prose  fact,  Guido  Verbeck 
was  as  the  blind  who  had  not  yet  won  vision  and 
as  the  prisoner  who  had  not  gained  deliverance. 
In  some  such  mood,  as  the  caged  eagle  feels,  he 
wrote  from  Green  Bay,  December  15th,  1855, 
"There  is  not  much  to  communicate  from  these 
peculiar  quarters.  It  is  Saturday  evening  and  the 
week's  troubles  are  once  more  endured.  We  are 
fast  striding  toward  the  end  of  the  year  and  I  hope 
to  enter  into  a  better  one  than  the  last  one  was. 
It  seems  to  me  as  if  I  were  going  backward  in  life 
— with  its  manifold  relations — instead  of  forward, 
but  perhaps  I  do  not  deserve  a  better  fate.  Oh, 
I  wish  I  were  an  old  man.  Then  I  should  be  joy- 
ful and  cheerful.  I  always  loved  the  fall — the 
autumn  best.  I  am  sometimes  led  to  think  with 
Cowper — your  poet  friend — that  '  if  I  were  as  fit 
for  the  other  world  as  I  am  unfit  for  this,  I  would 
not  change  with  a  saint';  but  God  forbid  that  I 
should  speak  lightly  about  so  serious  a  subject. 
I  think  I  have  lonely  and  dull  moods  as  most  feel- 
ing men  have,  and  now  I  am  in  spite  of  all  cir- 
cumstances in  my  low  mood.  I  feel  as  if  I  could 
do  anything,  at  least  in  some  directions.  .  .  . 
I  don't  make  any  plans  for  the  present  or  the 
future  and  act  only  from  momentary  impulse  and 

56 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

as  circumstances  require,  but  these  being  in  a 
rather  critical  state  it  is  hard  telling  what  may 
happen.  You  need  not  be  alarmed  about  any- 
thing, as  all  will  end  pretty  well  whatever  may 
happen." 

The  question  will  naturally  arise  as  to  how  and 
why  Guido  Verbeck's  mind  was  led  from  his 
career  as  civil  engineer  to  that  of  the  ministry  of 
the  gospel,  and  on  this  subject  we  have  not  all 
the  light  or  information  which  we  desire.  Yet 
the  missionary  yearning  and  aspiration  had  been 
very  strong  in  the  young  man  from  his  childhood, 
and,  as  we  shall  see,  it  did  not  need  much  outside 
pressure  or  influence  to  turn  the  channels  of 
Guido  Verbeck's  activity.  Besides,  were  not 
Murata's  prayers  for  light  and  a  teacher,  heard  of 
God?  It  is  to  be  noted  too,  that  the  year  of 
Guido  Verbeck's  sickness  was  that  in  which  the 
American  Expedition  under  Commodore  M.  C. 
Perry's  peaceful  armada  had  been  dispatched  to 
Japan.  The  news  of  the  treaty,  made  between 
the  government  of  the  United  States  and  that  of 
Japan,  had  already  reached  Green  Bay.  After  the 
happy  summer  of  1855  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Van  Deurs 
left  Green  Bay  for  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  the  former  to 
prepare  himself  more  thoroughly  for  the  ministry 
in  this  Theological  School. 

The  letter  quoted  above  shows  that  Guido's 
mind  was  ready  for  an  entire  change  of  life.  All 
that  was  necessary  was  to  open  the  cage.  Then 
the  bird  would  fly.  It  required  very  little  urging 
indeed  from  his  brother-in-law  to  take  the  step 

67  . 


Verbcck  of  Japan 

that  would  open  to  him  the  glorious  prospect  of 
carrying  the  good  news  of  God  to  lands  far  away. 
It  required  little  urging  from  Mr.  Van  Deurs  to 
Guido  to  come  to  Auburn  to  pursue  the  studies 
preparatory  to  entering  the  ministry.  The  late 
William  E.  Dodge  was  also  one  of  the  friends  who 
encouraged  and  gladly  promised  aid.  In  due  time 
the  young  Dutch  American  appeared  before  the 
Faculty,  was  examined  and  accepted  as  a  student. 
Guido  Verbeck  enjoyed  his  life  as  a  student  in 
Auburn.  He  had  also  the  company  of  his  two 
married  sisters  who  then  lived  in  this  city.  He 
lived  in  glowing  anticipation  of  work  for  God 
and  man  in  lands  afar. 

/  Having  a  deep  rich  tenor  voice,  he  joined  the 
Seminary  quartette  of  singers.  One  who  was  a 
schoolgirl  then  and  a  busy  mother  now  remem- 
bers the  pleasure  his  singing  gave,  at  her  father's 
home  on  Thanksgiving  day,  1858.  Quiet  in 
manner,  reserved  almost  to  shyness,  he  played 
his  own  accompaniment  and  forgot  himself  in 
giving  pleasure  to  others.  Not  the  least  of  the 
victories  of  Guido  Verbeck  throughout  his  life 
was  the  conquest  of  self.  He  overcame  shyness 
when  the  good  of  others  was  in  view. 

*  One  day  he  came  from  the  Seminary  and  with 
beaming  face  and  sweet  rich  voice  sang  the 
hymn,  already,  from  1841,  old  to  Americans, 
though  to  him  quite  new,  "  I  am  a  pilgrim  and 
I'm  a  stranger."  Both  the  singer  and  the  song 
seemed  never  more  in  unity. 
While  absorbed  in  study  at  the  school  of  di- 
ss 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

vinity,  the  student  found  exercise  of  his  powers 
in  preaching  in  German  to  the  people  from  the 
Fatherland,  who  met  for  worship  in  the  Seminary 
Chapel.  His  heart  went  out  to  a  maiden,  Miss 
Maria  Manion,  to  whom  he  was  betrothed  and 
in  due  time  married.  Meanwhile  at  Owasco 
Outlet,  a  beautiful  spot  near  Auburn,  his  future 
colleague,  Rev.  Samuel  R.  Brown  was  pastor  of 
the  Reformed  Dutch  church.  This  genial  pioneer 
of  Christian  education  in  China  had  been  at  Can- 
ton from  1838  to  1847  in  the  missionary  service 
of  the  Morrison  Education  Society.  Having  re- 
turned home  on  account  of  his  wife's  illness,  he 
had  been  settled  at  Owasco  Outlet  since  1851, 
hoping  for  an  opportunity  to  return  to  mission- 
ary work  in  the  Far  East,  or,  shall  not  we  Ameri- 
cans say,  our  New  West  beyond  sea  ? 

Let  us  look  again  beyond  the  Pacific,  and  see 
how  prayer  and  works  wrought  together,  even 
while  Murata  waited  for  his  teacher.  Japan 
needed  true  Christianity. 

Nagasaki  lies  in  the  province  of  Hizen  in  the 
western  part  of  the  Kiushiu  or  the  Island  of  the 
Nine  Provinces.  Its  geographical  situation  makes 
it  the  most  important  port  in  southwestern  Japan 
and  the  gateway  from  China  and  Korea.  Not 
being  easily  accessible  to  the  large  open  country 
beyond,  it  can  never  become  a  great  centre  of 
commerce,  but  must  ever  be  an  important  coal- 
ing station.  Near  by  are  the  coal  mines  and  not 
many  leagues  away  is  one  of  the  chief  national 
navy  yards. 

69 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Until  1568,  Nagasaki  was  a  mere  fishing  vil- 
lage. Then  Hideyoshi  wrested  it  from  the  local 
baron  and  made  it  a  part  of  the  imperial  domain. 
It  may  be  called  the  birthplace  of  Christian  mis- 
sions, both  of  the  Roman  and  of  the  Reformed 
order.  The  Portuguese  merchants  and  mission- 
aries made  this  their  centre  of  influence,  while 
trade  and  conversions  multiplied  so  that  the  city 
is  one  of  great  historical  prominence  in  the  story 
of  Japanese  Christianity.  Early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  the  representatives  of  southern 
Europe  were  driven  away  and  the  Dutch  were 
ordered  to  leave  the  island  of  Hirado  and  their 
factory  there  and  come  to  Fore  Island  or  Deshima 
in  front  of  Nagasaki.  Out  in  the  bay,  and  in 
sight  of  the  city,  at  the  entrance  of  the  long  land 
locked  harbor,  is  Pappenburg,  from  which,  in 
1643,  after  the  uprising  at  Shimabara,  the  native 
Christians  were,  according  to  tradition,  driven 
into  the  sea.  As  "geography  is  half  of  war,"  so 
also  has  it  much  to  do  with  shaping  of  mission 
work  in  every  land.  Hence  the  rebirth  of  Chris- 
tianity, this  time  not  of  the  Roman  but  of  the 
Germanic  type,  was  at  Nagasaki  also.  From  the 
city  on  the  Long  Promontory,  the  call  for  mis- 
sionaries was  first  sent  to  America,  and  at  this 
city  they  first  arrived.  The  origin  of  the  missions 
is  thus  stated  in  The  Life  and  Letters  of  S.  Wells 
Williams,  p.  284,  by  himself: 

"I  was  much  impressed  with  what  Mr.  Don- 
ker  Curtius,  the  Dutch  envoy,  who  had  just 
signed   a  treaty,  then  said:  that  the  Japanese 

60 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

officials  had  told  him  they  were  ready  to  allow 
foreigners  all  trading  privileges  if  a  way  could  be 
found  to  keep  opium  and  Christianity  out  of  the 
country.  There  were  also  then  at  Nagasaki  (on 
the  United  States  Steamship  Minnesota),  Rev.  Mr. 
E.  W.  Syle  and  Chaplain  Henry  Wood,  and  we 
three  agreed  to  write  to  the  directors  of  the  Epis- 
copal, Reformed,  and  Presbyterian  Mission  Boards, 
urging  them  to  appoint  missionaries  for  Japan 
who  could  teach  the  people  what  true  Christianity 
was.  Within  the  coming  year  we  all  had  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  the  agents  of  these  three  so- 
cieties in  Shanghai." 

In  a  word,  these  three  Christian  men  saw  that 
it  was  simply  ignorance,  pure  and  simple,  on  the 
part  of  a  Japanese  governor  to  consider  Chris- 
tianity an  evil  on  a  par  with  opium.  They  re- 
solved then  and  there  to  have  the  Christianity 
founded  on  an  open  Bible  brought  into  the  coun- 
try. One  agreed  to  write  to  the  Episcopal,  the 
other  to  the  Presbyterian,  and  the  other  to  the 
Reformed  Church  in  America,  urging  them  to 
send  missionaries  to  Japan. 

When  the  letter  of  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams 
reached  New  York,  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  true  daughter 
of  the  church  in  the  Netherlands,  began  to  con- 
sider their  duty  in  the  matter.  The  appeal  from 
Japan  was  presented  to  the  monthly  concert  of 
prayer  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  held  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1859,  in  the  now  vanished  South  Reformed 
church  edifice  at  the  corner  of  Fifth  avenue  and 

61 


r 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Twenty-first  street.  '*  As  the  Japanese  had  long 
been  friendly  to  the  Hollanders,  and  were  now 
well  disposed  toward  the  Americans,  the  Re- 
formed Church  of  America,  representing  both 
Hollanders  and  Americans,  was  above  all  others 
the  church  to  carry  the  gospel  to  this  nation  of 
thirty  millions  of  souls."  Two  elders  of  this 
South  Reformed  church  agreed  to  give  each  eight 
hundred  dollars  annually  for  the  support  of  a 
missionary  in  Japan,  and  the  church  as  a  church 
agreed  to  support  a  third.  The  board  thankfully 
accepted  the  offer  and  began  to  look  for  brave 
and  true  men  who  must  be  willing  to  go  into  the 
caissons,  as  it  were,  to  work  quietly  and  almost 
unknown  for  years,  and  probably  without  any 
signs  of  success.  One  medical  and  two  clerical 
missionaries,  one  of  whom  must  be  an  "Ameri- 
canized Dutchman  "  were  needed.  Even  before 
the  secretary  had  secured  a  dollar  or  begun  to 
sweep  the  horizon  for  the  right  men  as  pioneers, 
Dr.  S.  R.  Brown's  offer  to  go  came  and  even  then 
he  was  inquiring  for  a  companion. 

Let ' '  The  Missionary  Journal  of  Guido  Verbeck  " 
in  his  own  handwriting  tell  how  the  *' American- 
ized Dutchman  "  was  sought,  found  and  sent. 

'*  About  the  middle  of  January,  1859,  Rev.  Mr. 
Charles  Hawley,  D.  D.,  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
church,  Auburn,  first  told  me  that  an  Ameri- 
canized Dutchman  was  looked  for  by  the  Re- 
formed Dutch  Church,  to  go  as  a  missionary  to 
Japan.  About  a  week  after  Mr.  Hawley  had  rec- 
ommended me  to  Dr.  Scudder,  Rev.  S.  Brown 

62 


GuiDo  AND  Maria  Verbeck. 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

came  to  see  me  on  the  same  subject,  and  on  the 
22d  January  told  me  I  was  invited  to  join  him 
in  a  visit  to  New  York  before  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Missionary  Board.  On  the  20th  I  had  sent  a  let- 
ter to  Dr.  Isaac  Ferris,  corresponding  secretary, 
and  on  Friday,  the  28th,  went  to  New  York  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  BrownT/  On  Saturday  I  went  on  to 
Philadelphia  and  returned  with  George  Van 
Deurs  to  New  York  on  Monday,  31st  January, 
when  we  had  a  meeting  of  the  board  at  3  p.  m. 
On  my  return  to  New  York,  I  stopped  at  Mr. 
William  E.  Dodge's,  George  with  the  son  of  Mr. 
Doremus.  George  returned  on  Tuesday,  and  I 
returned  to  Auburn  on  Thursday,  3d  February. 

"  Under  date  of  i6th  February  I  received  the  ap- 
pointment by  Dr.  Ferris  with  directions  for  ordi- 
nation, etc. 

''On  the  22d  of  March  I  was  licensed  and  or- 
dained an  evangelist  by  the  Presbytery  of  Cayuga, 
at  the  Second  Presbyterian  church,  at  1 130  and  7 
o'clock  p.  M.  Sermon  by  Dr.  Condit,  charge  by 
Dr.  Hall.  Many  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  clergy 
were  present,  and  some  took  part  in  the  exercises 
of  the  day. 

"On  the  next  day  at  eleven  o'clock  I  was  re- 
ceived as  a  member  of  the  Reformed  Dutch 
classis  of  Cayuga.  From  the  28th  to  the  31st  of 
March  I  was  at  Albany  to  secure  my  American 
citizenship    from   the    legislature,"^    which    he 

>  A  letter   from   the   deputy  secretary  of  state,  June  6,  1900, 
states  that  « this  office  has  no  records  showing  anything  relative 
to  the  application  of  Rev.  Guido  F.  Verbeck  to  secure  Amer- 
63 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

found  could  not  be  done.    So  he  went  forth,  a 
citizen  of  no  state. 

Thus  for  one  night,  Guido  Verbeck  was  a 
Presbyterian  minister.  The  classis  of  Cayuga, 
named  after  the  queen  jewel  in  the  tiara  of  lakes 
that  adorns  the  Empire  State,  covered  a  region 
rich  not  only  in  Iroquois  and  Colonial  lore,  but 
famous  for  the  number  of  Christian  missionaries 
in  that  glorious  number,  already  in  the  thousands, 
sent  from  New  York,  including  J.  L.  Nevius  and 
S.  Wells  Williams,  born  and  reared  within  its 
borders.  With  his  betrothed,  communion  was 
enjoyed  at  the  Sand  Beach  church  at  Owasco 
Outlet.  Bidding  farewell  to  his  German  congrega- 
tion, and  to  professors  and  friends,  he  left  Au- 
burn, April  15.  A  large  party  of  students  and 
friends  wafted  good-bye  to  the  pioneers.  In 
Philadelphia,  on  Monday,  April  18,  at  11  a.  m., 
Guido  Verbeck  and  Maria  Manion  were  united  in 
marriage  by  Rev.  George  Van  Deurs.  The  bride 
of  1859  became  for  nearly  forty  years  the  devoted 
wife,  and  is  yet  living,  the  honored  and  beloved 
mother  of  the  eight  children  born  to  bless 
the  union.  A  bridal  trip  was  made  up  the 
lovely  Schuylkill  Valley,  then  just  putting  on  the 
first  green  tints  of  springtime,  to  Morristown, 
near  the  historic  Valley  Forge.  The  world  re- 
members the  camp  and  the  sufferings  of  1778, 
even  though  they  know  not  the  city. 

ican  citizenship.     We  have  examined  the  State  and  assembly 
journals  and  documents  of  1859  and  also  the  session  laws  and 
find  no  reference  to  Mr.  Verbeck." 
64 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

The  missionary  party,  in  which  were  Verbeck 
and  his  wife,  sailed  from  New  York  in  the  ship 
Surprise,  at  noon  of  Saturday,  May  7,  1859.  They 
were  bound  for  Shanghai,  depending  on  the  wind 
to  waft  them.  Rev.  S.  R.  Brown,  D.  D.,  who 
won  an  honored  name  as  missionary,  translator, 
and  teacher,  whose  Japanese  pupils  have  nobly 
adorned  their  country's  history,  and  Duane  B. 
Simmons,  M.  D.,  who  made  an  imperishable 
mark  in  the  annals  of  medical  science  in  Japan 
and  in  the  invaluable  study  of  Japanese  private 
law,  continued  by  Professor  Wigmore,  with  their 
wives,  were  also  in  the  party. 

*'How  well  I  remember  the  sailing  of  the  good 
ship  'Surprise,'  May,  1859,  from  New  York 
harbor,  with  flags  flying,  and  amid  firing  of  can- 
non when  the  first  missionaries  to  Japan,  three 
men  and  their  wives,  set  sail  on  an  embassage  of 
mercy  to  the  far-famed  Zipangu!  How  well  I 
remember  the  youthful  face  and  blonde  hair  of 
the  tall,  sedate,  and  thoughtful  Guido  F.  Ver- 
beck." 

So  spoke  his  co-laborer.  Rev.  James  H.  Ballagh, 
on  March  12,  1898.  Ashe  said  further:  ''Alas, 
that  youthful  form  after  exhausting  labors, 
.  .  ,  is  to-day  to  be  borne  by  devout  men  to 
his  peaceful  resting-place  in  'The  Evergreen 
Mount,'  Awoyama! " 

Nagasaki  is  in  our  day  distant,  in  time,  from 
New  York,  about  three  weeks.  Then  the  voy- 
age required  months.  In  thirty-one  days  they 
crossed  the  equatorial  line,  and  on  June  30  were 

65 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

at  the  cape  of  Good  Hope.  They  celebrated  the 
4th  of  July  and  reaching  Anjier  in  Java  on  the  28th, 
spent  two  days  on  land.  Here  they  found  a  per- 
fect paradise  and  enjoyed  the  luscious  fresh  fruit. 
It  was  not  until  the  25th  of  August,  on  account  of 
baffling  winds,  that  they  stepped  on  shore  at 
Hongkong,  where  they  met  the  Rev.  William 
Ashmore,  now  the  veteran  Baptist  missionary, 
whose  face  and  form  at  the  Ecumenical  Council 
of  Missions  in  New  York  in  May,  1900,  those 
present  remember  so  well. 

On  account  of  the  storms  and  the  ship's  need- 
ing repairs  they  were  detained  a  whole  month, 
at  Hongkong,  during  which  time  Guido  Ver- 
beck visited  the  Scotch,  German,  and  the  English 
missionaries  and  also  the  cathedral  of  the  Church 
of  England.  Those  whom  he  admired  most  of 
all  were  the  German  missionaries,  Genaehr  and 
Winnes,  of  whom  he  wrote: 

"  Oh !  what  a  difference  between  their  warmth, 
love  and  sympathy,  and  that  of  the  English  or 
American!  I  see  anew  that  if  a  German  is  a 
Christian,  he  is  one  with  his  whole  soul.  The 
Germans  here  are  also  considered  the  hardest 
workers,  the  plainest  livers,  and  they  count  some 
of  the  best  Chinese  scholars.  The  great  diffi- 
culty is  here,  the  hardness  of  the  language.  It 
takes  a  very  long  time  of  dry  hard  studying  be- 
fore one  is  able  to  preach  in  Chinese,  sometimes 
many  years.  Yesterday  I  saw  a  German  mis- 
sionary with  a  sword  cut  across  his  face  which 
he  received  of  a  Chinese  who  tried  to  strike  off 

66 


Messrs.  F,  Verbeck,  S.   R.  Brown, 
AND  D.  B.  Simmons. 


In  the  Land  of  Opportunity 

his  head  last  year,  in  order  to  secure  the  one 
hundred  dollars  premium  which  the  governor  of 
Canton  had  promised  to  pay  for  the  head  of 
every  foreigner,  but  he  was  very  providentially 
saved.  Another  one  was  attacked  by  an  in- 
furiated mob  of  about  two  hundred  Chinese  and 
had  to  bargain  a  whole  day  (with  swords  over 
his  head  and  knives  at  his  heart)  for  his  life,  but 
he  beat  them  down  from  four  thousand  dollars 
to  one  hundred  and  forty  dollars.  He  was 
rescued  by  an  English  steamer,  but  still  he  hon- 
estly paid  the  price.  That  was  brother  Winnes. 
But  now  peace  and  safety  are  established." 

At  Shanghai  on  the  17th  of  October,  Guido 
Verbeck  met  Rev.  C.  E.  Bridgman,  Rev.  E.  W. 
Syle,  S.  Wells  Williams  and  Chaplain  Henry 
Wood  of  the  United  States  Steamship  Powhatan 
— all  names  of  fragrant  memory.  After  consulta- 
tion it  was  thought  most  expedient  that  Dr. 
Brown  and  Dr.  Simmons,  leaving  their  families 
at  Shanghai,  should  go  on  to  Kanagawa  at  once. 
Finding  a  vessel  sailing  thither  on  October  21st, 
they  set  sail,  arriving  there  October  21st,  being 
met,  welcomed,  and  taken  in  by  Dr.  j.  C.  Hepburn 
in  his  house,  or  rather  his  temple.  Strangely 
enough  the  government  authorities  and  the  priests 
themselves  opened  the  temples  for  Christian 
missionaries  to  lodge  in.  Drs.  Brown  and  Sim- 
mons soon  had  houses  prepared  to  receive  their 
families.  Leaving  Shanghai  on  the  17th  of  De- 
cember, the  wives  joined  their  husbands  on  the 
29th  of  the  same  month,  and  so  the  right  wing, 

67 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

as  it  were,  of  the  Reformed  Church  mission  took 
position  in  Japan. 

In  order  that  the  missionaries  should  not  all  so 
crowd  into  one  place  as  to  alarm  the  Japanese  at 
the  invasion,  Mr.  Verbeck  thought  of  staying 
first  in  Shanghai  for  a  while  through  the  winter 
to  study  the  language,  expecting  to  go  to  Nag- 
asaki in  the  spring.  However,  on  taking  coun- 
sel of  Dr.  Williams  and  others,  he  decided  to  go 
at  once. 

On  November  4th,  leaving  his  wife  behind  and 
going  ahead  as  a  prospector  and  pioneer,  he 
reached  Nagasaki  harbor  on  the  night  of  Novem- 
ber 7th.  The  next  morning  after  a  journey  from 
New  York  of  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven 
days,  he  beheld  the  land  of  promise.  Everlasting 
Great  Japan,  and  touched  its  sacred  soil  with  his 
feet. 


IV 

A  GLANCE  AT    OLD  JAPAN 

/ 

Thus  far  we  have  looked  at  the  young  mis- 
sionary following  the  lead  of  the  Divine  Spirit 
and  making  his  home  in  that  corner  of  the  em- 
pire of  Japan  which  had  thus  far  been  best  known 
to  the  world  at  large.  Until  the  days  of  Marco 
Polo,  the  existence  of  the  Japanese  Archipelago 
was  almost  as  unknown  to  European  people  as 
was  that  of  Australasia.  Except  to  the  geogra- 
phers and  map-makers,  it  had  only  a  shadowy 
existence,  for  the  European  peoples  had  not  only 
not  come  into  full  geographical  consciousness  of 
their  own  continent,  but  were  ignorant  of  the  as 
yet  unveiled  outlines  of  Africa  and  Asia.  Hence 
Zipangu,  or  Japan,  was  almost  as  mythical  to  the 
average  European,  as  were  the  Antilles  or  the 
Seven  Cities  of  Cibola,  and  to  many  even  less 
real. 

As  Marco  Polo  was  dubbed  "Signor  Million" 
because  he  used  that  term  in  arithmetic  so  often 
and  was  ridiculed  therefor,  so  Mendez  Pinto, 
who  first  from  Europe,  in  1539,  landed  in  Japan 
was  punningly  dubbed  the  ''Mendacious"  Pinto. 
After  Pinto,  there  followed  about  fourscore  years 
of  mercantile  and  missionary  contact  between  the 
Iberian  peninsula  and  Japan.     During  this  period, 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Christianity  of  a  certain  type  had  great  vogue  in 
the  islands.  The  number  of  adherents  including 
prominent  men  and  local  rulers  was  very  great, 
possibly  a  million,  and  these  **  converts"  were 
found  not  only  in  central,  southern,  and  south- 
western Japan,  but  even  up  in  the  north  as  far  as 
Sendai.  The  labors  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  in- 
augurated by  Xavier,  seem  prodigious.  The  his- 
tory of  these  fourscore  years  (i 540-1620)  is  very 
wonderful  and  the  details  of  organization,  and 
later  of  disaster  and  martyrdom,  are  sufficiently 
interesting.  As  to  the  material  and  tangible  suc- 
cess, as  of  the  mustard  seed  becoming  a  great 
tree  with  much  lodging  of  a  variety  of  fowls  in 
the  branches,  with  the  noises  of  report  and  re- 
joicing, there  seems  to  be  no  lack  of  evidence 
and  the  literature  on  the  subject  is  large  and  full. 
Yet  on  the  other  hand  when  we  come  to  in- 
quire into  the  dynamic  influence  of  the  Portuguese 
and  Spanish  missions  in  Japan  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  we  naturally  ask  how  far  was  the  nation 
leavened.  What  transformations  were  made? 
Did  Christianity,  as  then  presented,  influence  the 
Japanese  people  in  their  literature,  art,  or  ethics, 
or  in  those  things  which  make  the  Japanese  man 
what  he  is  ?  Surely,  the  phenomenal  in  mis- 
sions, though  temporarily  seeming  of  vast  im- 
portance, is  as  nothing  compared  to  the  renovat- 
ing and  transforming  power  which  true  Chris- 
tianity, though  hid  as  leaven,  exerts.  Though 
the  martyr  roll  of  Japan  is  a  shining  one,  and 
though  there  were  here  and  there  attempts  made 
70 


A  Glance  at  Old  Japan 

to  resist  unto  blood,  notably  in  the  insurrection 
at  Shimabara  in  1637,  yet  it  seems  wonderful  that 
after  such  triumphs  of  Christianity  throughout 
the  islands,  so  little  should  have  remained  to  in- 
fluence the  national  life,  that  the  native  extant 
records  and  monuments  and  relics  should  be  so 
scanty,  that  the  mark  on  the  thought  and  intellect 
of  the  people  should  be  so  slight. 

After  critical  research  and  even  at  the  risk  of 
being  immediately  considered  bigoted  and  sec- 
tarian, one  must  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
religion  preached  by  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  in 
Japan  was  more  of  the  church  and  the  corpora- 
tion, than  of  the  Heavenly  Father  and  of  His  Christ. 

Let  us  realize  what  the  situation  was,  as 
known  and  unknown  to  the  young  missionary, 
Guido  Verbeck,  in  the  early  sixties,  when  the 
Civil  War  was  raging  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  war  clouds  were  gathering  in  Japan.  What 
was  the  religious  and  political  situation  ? 

Japan  at  this  time  had  about  thirty  million  souls 
within  her  borders.  The  population  had  stood 
stationary  for  over  a  century.  The  suppression 
of  Christianity,  the  expulsion  of  foreigners  from 
southern  Europe,  the  confinement  of  the  Dutch 
to  Nagasaki  and  the  limitation  of  all  intercourse 
with  outsiders  to  that  port,  the  exclusion  of  all 
foreign  ideas  and  influences  and  the  inclusion  of 
the  people  within  an  order  of  things  expected  to 
be  permanent,  was  contemporaneous  with  the 
rise  of  the  Tokugawa  family,  as  founded  by 
lyeyasu,  in  1604.  The  development  and  con- 
71 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

solidation  of  feudalism  went  on  with  its  centre  in 
the  Tycoon  at  Yedo.  While  the  nominal  foun- 
tain of  authority  was  at  Kioto,  the  sword  and 
purse  were  at  Yedo.  The  power  of  the  Tycoon 
at  Yedo  weakened  according  to* the  distance  from 
the  capital.  In  the  far  off  provinces,  the  barons 
or  daimios  had  practically  full  control  of  their 
hereditary  domains.  In  some,  as  in  Satsuma,  no 
agent  of  the  Yedo  government  was  allowed  to 
enter.  The  great  island  of  Yezo  in  the  north 
was  occupied  only  on  the  southern  edge,  the  in- 
terior being  practically  unknown.  The  Kuriles 
were  but  rarely  visited  by  government  officers 
and  occupied  only  by  a  few  fishermen  or  sol- 
diers. Saghalin,  though  nominally  part  of  Japan, 
rarely  saw  a  Japanese  face.  Further  south,  the 
Bonin  and  other  outlying  islands  were  unclaimed 
and  uncared  for,  except  as  used  for  places  of 
hopeless  exile  for  political  offenders.  In  the 
south  the  Luchu  or  Riu  Kiu  Islands  received  an 
annual  visit  of  one  junk  from  Satsuma,  to  receive 
the  marks  of  nominal  vassalage.  Formosa  was 
the  far-off  land,  shadowy  in  mythology  and 
known  in  fairy  tales.  There  centuries  before, 
Japanese  buccaneers  had  won  fame  and  glory. 
Indeed  Japanese  pirates,  during  the  three  cen- 
turies before  lyeyasu,  had  been  making  them- 
selves lively  and  famous  from  Tartary  to  Siam. 
It  is  no  wonder  that  as  late  as  1894,  a  Chinese 
emperor  should,  even  in  an  official  document 
speak  of  the  Wo-jin,  or  "dwarf  pirates"  of 
Japan  that  had  for  centuries  impressed  them- 
72 


A  Glance  at  Old  Japan 

selves  on  the  Chinese  imagination,  especially  in 
the  nursery,  very  much  as  the  Normans  in  Europe 
had  upon  their  minds  of  civilized  people.  On 
both  continents  the  raids  left  their  mark  in  many 
a  blackened  ruin  and  devastated  and  depopulated 
coast,  as  well  as  in  litany,  in  nursery  tale,  and  the 
frightening  of  rebel  children  by  their  maternal 
suzerains.  Traditionally  Korea  belonged  to 
Japan,  for  myth  and  legend,  reinforced  by  in- 
vasions, notably  the  great  one  of  1592- 1597,  de- 
clared the  peninsular  kingdom  to  be  but  an 
appanage  of  Nippon.  The  country  alleged  to  be 
of  Japanese  ownership  was  not  only  the  land  of 
tigers,  of  art,  of  wealth,  and  the  fatherland  of 
Buddhism,  but  also  of  the  exploits  of  Kato  and 
Konishi.  Korea,  in  Japanese  eyes,  existed  only 
by  the  suffrances  and  mercy  of  Japan. 

Nevertheless  at  that  one  place  of  Nagasaki,  the 
single  window  and  gateway  through  which 
Japan  looked  upon  the  world,  there  was  suffi- 
ciency of  government,  with  constant  scrutiny. 
The  '*  walls  had  ears"  and  the  velvet  paw  had 
claws  within  it.  Here  was  the  one  place  of 
foreign  intercourse,  trade,  and  traffic  with  Europe 
and  China.  The  Dutch  ships  brought  news, 
science,  and  apparatus,  as  well  as  material  com- 
modities from  Europe,  germs  for  the  soil  both 
earthly  and  spiritual.  The  Chinese  junks  made  it 
possible  for  an  occasional  Japanese  to  slip  away 
to  China,  or  for  Chinese  to  bring  books.  In  the 
masonry  of  the  Tycoonal  system  these  messen- 
gers of  the  sea  were  as  birds  that  dropped  seed, 
73 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

which  growing  up  with  roots,  threatened  to  dis- 
locate the  structure.  Despite  all  the  contempt 
and  ridicule  of  the  Deshima  Dutchman,  power- 
fully exaggerated  through  the  jealousy  and  covet- 
eousness  of  other  and  envious  traders,  these  men 
taught  the  Japanese  seekers  after  wisdom  their 
language  and  science.  Already  in  the  empire, 
unknown  to  Mr.  Verbeck  or  to  other  foreigners, 
there  were  hundreds  of  men  of  inquiring  spirit, 
seeking  knowledge  through  the  Dutch  language, 
practicing  medicine  according  to  the  European 
principles  and  even  seeking  the  light  of  Chris- 
tianity through  Dutch  books,  Chinese  versions  of 
the  New  Testament,  the  whole  Bible,  or  such 
publications  of  Christian  missionaries  in  China  as 
were  brought  over  from  time  to  time  by  the 
Chinese  sailors.  There  were  also  men,  probably 
already  thousands  in  number,  politically  opposed 
to  the  duarchy  or  division  of  power  between 
Yedo  and  Kioto,  who  were  bitterly  hostile  to  the 
Tycoon.  These  were  eagerly  looking,  awaiting 
the  day  when  there  should  be  revolution  and 
change,  through  the  overthrow  of  the  Yedo  gov- 
ernment. They  could  not  foresee  just  how  this 
was  to  come,  and  in  most  cases  the  idea  of  each 
clansman  was  that  his  own  clan  should  be  para- 
mount, even  as  that  of  the  Tokugawa  clan  had 
become  supreme  and  held  power  during  two 
centuries  or  more.  In  many  ways  the  desire  for 
more  light  was  showing  itself  and  men  were 
eager  to  know  and  possess  the  secrets  of  power 
held  by  the  nations  of  the  West. 

74 


A  Glance  at  Old  Japan 

In  alliance  with  the  political  usurpation  in 
Yedo,  for  historically,  we  can  call  it  nothing  less, 
was  the  great  Buddhist  hierarchy  and  popular 
religion.  Although  divided  up  into  sects  and 
denominations,  beside  which  even  American 
Christianity  has  no  need  to  blush,  yet,  priestcraft 
is  one  and  the  same  thing  the  world  over,  for  the 
priest  stands  by  the  fact,  the  thing  done,  the 
power  invested  and  yielding  revenue,  and  cares 
little  for  the  truth,  and  especially  for  new  forms 
and  institutions.  In  Japan  the  Buddhist  priests 
were  united  against  any  foreign  religion  that 
would  curtail  their  power  and  they  raged  against 
a  form  of  life  like  that  of  Christianity  which,  in 
its  normal  development,  does  away  with  priest- 
craft. To  them  was  committed,  by  the  govern- 
ment in  Yedo,  a  business  very  much  akin  to  that 
which  within  slavery's  domain,  in  the  old  United 
States,  was  done  by  blood  hounds  and  slave 
drivers.  The  system  of  inquisition  in  Japan, 
which  ended  in  torture,  imprisonment,  crucifixion, 
and  empalement  of  Christians  on  the  bamboo 
cross,  had  been  in  vogue  for  centuries.  By  long 
experience  in  personal  cunning,  treachery,  and 
power  of  espionage,  many  of  the  Buddhist 
priests  had  become  experts  in  tracking  out  ''be- 
lievers." Furthermore,  with  the  abundant  ma- 
terial of  fanaticism  among  men  who  to  traditional 
erudition  joined  the  frightful  ignorance  of  insular 
hermits,  there  were  always  plenty  of  them  ready 
to  turn  assassins,  and  to  kill  the  foreigners,  think- 
ing thereby  they  were  doing  the  gods  service. 

75 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Soon  the  humble  missionary  scholar  in  his 
home,  and  the  armed  escort  of  the  diplomatist, 
were  to  feel  the  presence  both  of  the  spy  in  the 
pay  of  united  Japanese  Caiaphas  and  Herod,  and 
of  the  sword  unsheathed  by  the  order  of  Church 
and  State.  Thus  together,  like  the  ill  assorted 
ox  and  ass  drawing  the  plow,  were  to  be  found 
in  Mr.  Verbeck's  classes,  the  sincere  and  admir- 
ing student  eager  for  knowledge  and  the  traitor- 
priest  as  destitute  of  principle  as  was  his  skull 
of  hair.  In  the  intellectual  history  of  Japan,  the 
priest  first  and  then  the  samurai  or  gentlemen 
have  been  the  leaders  and  usually  the  sole  in- 
tellectual workers,  furnishing  the  noblest  and  the 
vilest  characters.  With  them  is  associated  all 
mental  initiative  and  monopoly  of  literary  culture, 
the  facts  of  the  case  being  much  the  same  in 
1900  as  A.  D.  1600. 

For  a  thousand  years  the  Japanese  have  had 
writing  and  literature,  intellectual  culture,  and 
mental  discipline.  From  the  time  of  the  revival 
of  learning  in  the  last  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  the  samurai,  or  literally,  servants  of  the 
emperor,  have  nearly  monopolized  intellectual 
culture.  Bred  alike  to  letters  and  to  arms,  the 
samurai  was  the  gentleman  and  the  soldier,  in 
one  person.  Not  as  in  China,  separated  in  his 
interests,  the  military  from  the  civil  functions  of 
life,  he  was  equally  at  home  with  the  sword  and 
the  pen,  was  trained  to  bodily  exercises  and  ac- 
complishments and  to  the  powers  and  delights 
of  scholarship.  The  samurai  families  comprised 
76 


A  Glance  at  Old  Japan 

about  one-tenth  of  the  whole  people.  In  a  word, 
they  formed  an  element  large  enough  and  pow- 
erful enough  to  swing  the  nation  out  of  the 
ancient  grooves  of  thought  and  policy  into  the 
new  road  and  upon  the  new  levels  of  the  world's 
life  in  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  and  it  is 
the  samurai,  from  whose  ranks  come  the  warmest 
friends  and  the  bitterest  enemies  of  Christianity. 

Yet,  while  the  impartial  critic  must  award  all 
due  praise  to  the  Japanese  intellect  and  the  rec- 
ord of  its  power  and  achievements,  as  manifested 
in  a  thousand  years  of  its  literature,  yet  the  total 
output  of  the  national  thought  is  not  of  a  kind  or 
quality  to  be  ranked  either  with  the  great  nations 
of  antiquity,  or  with  the  work  of  the  leading 
European  nations.  It  is  very  certain  that  the  first 
intellectual  attacks  of  Japanese  writers  against 
Christianity  were  not  of  a  kind  to  command  re- 
spect for  the  Japanese  intellect.  They  seem  even 
now  more  often  like  the  work  of  children  than 
of  reasonable  men. 

Guido  Verbeck  was  destined  to  be  the  target 
of  one  of  the  first  shafts  sped  by  an  archer  in  the 
ambush  of  his  own  garden. 

As  soon  as  diplomatic  relations  had  been  es- 
tablished by  the  American  envoy,  Mr.  Townsend 
Harris,  and  Kanagawa  had  nominally,  and 
Yokohama  really,  become  a  place  of  foreign 
trade  and  residence,  July  i,  1859,  it  seemed  as 
though  the  signal  was  given  for  the  long-wait- 
ing haters  of  the  Tycoon  and  of  foreigners  to 
begin  their  work  with  torch,  spear,  and  sword. 
77 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

The  breach  between  the  emperor  and  the  Shogun, 
between  Yedo  and  Kioto,  the  court  and  the  camp, 
widened  daily.  The  emperor  and  Kioto  court 
having  refused  to  sign  the  treaties  admitting 
foreigners,  the  regent,  li,  took  the  responsibiHty 
and  signed  the  Harris  treaty.  Then,  after  the 
death  of  lyesada,  the  Shogun,  assuming  high 
power  at  the  Yedo  court,  li  secured  the  election 
of  his  own  nominee  and  punished  severely  the 
men  who  had  favored  the  expulsion  of  foreigners. 

Such  severity  developed  the  assassin  and  the 
incendiary,  as  heat  and  moisture  make  the  weeds 
spring  up.  Since  the  old-style  patriots — "the 
frogs  in  a  well" — considered  the  emperor  per- 
sonally insulted  and  that  such  gods  as  the  Japa- 
nese had,  were  angry,  the  cry  was  raised  *'  Honor 
the  Mikado  and  expel  the  barbarians."  To  a 
majority  of  the  Japanese  clansmen,  who  in  the 
quantity  of  light  enjoyed  were  little  better  than 
moles,  a  European  or  American  was  a  **  hairy- 
faced  barbarian,"  fit  only  to  die  inujini  (in  a 
dog's  place). 

So  long  as  these  men,  so  eager  to  try  their 
swords  on  foreigners,  drew  their  rice  and  pay 
from  the  feudal  masters,  they  were  under  con- 
trol. Now,  however,  thousands  of  turbulent 
clansmen  severed  their  connections  of  loyalty, 
ceased  to  be  salaried  gentlemen  and  became 
tramps,  that  is,  ronin  or  wave  men.  While 
among  these  wandering  and  unsettled  foreigner- 
haters  there  were  the  brave  and  true  sons  of 
honor,  the  majority  of  them  were  arrant  cowards, 

78 


A  Glance  at  Old  Japan 

assassins,  sneaks,  and  ruffians,  morally  no  better 
than  the  roughs  and  toughs  of  Manhattan  Island. 
It  is  true  that  in  the  Old  Japan,  which  Ver- 
beck  aided  so  powerfully  to  destroy,  the  people 
often  glorified  assassins  and  murderers,  hailing 
them  as  martyrs,  and  piling  flowers  upon  their 
graves.  But  this  was  nothing  wonderful  in  a 
civilization  founded  on  the  morals  of  Confucius, 
which  forbid  one  to  live  under  the  same  heaven 
with  the  murderer  of  his  father  or  lord,  and 
where  blood  revenge  and  the  vendetta  were 
recognized  as  regular  and  popular  forms  of  pro- 
cedure. Nevertheless  we  note  in  all  the  days  of 
the  barbarian-expelling  temper  of  Japan  no 
mobs,  as  in  China,  but  only  individual  instances 
of  violence. 


19 


IN  NAGASAKI  :      FIRST  IMPRESSIONS 

It  was  on  a  charming  moonlight  night  that 
the  vessel  bearing  Guido  Verbeck  steamed  up 
the  beautiful  bay  of  Nagasaki,  so  rich  and  so 
sombre  in  its  memories  of  the  past.  Contenting 
himself  with  only  a  partial  view  of  the  city  and 
surrounding  hills  from  the  deck,  his  heart  was 
full  of  gratitude  that  having  passed  the  many 
dangers  of  the  deep  he  was  on  the  eve  of  per- 
mission to  set  foot  on  the  long  longed-for  land. 
He  wrote: 

''With  the  first  dawning  of  the  day  I  cannot 
describe  the  beauty  that  is  before  me.  I  have 
never  seen  anything  like  it  before  in  Europe  or 
America;  suppose  yourself  to  be  on  deck  of  a 
steamer  within  a  port  as  smooth  as  a  mirror, 
about  sixteen  neat  vessels  scattered  about  here 
and  there,  before  you  that  far-famed  Deshima, 
and  around  it  and  beyond,  an  extensive  city  with 
many  neat  white  roofed  and  walled  houses,  and 
again  all  around  this  city  lofty  hills,  covered  with 
evergreen  foliage  of  great  variety,  and  in  many 
places  spotted  by  temples  and  houses.  Let  the 
morning  sun  shine  on  this  scene,  and  the  morning 
dews  gradually  withdraw  like  a  curtain,  and 
hide  themselves  in  the  more  elevated  ravines  of 

80 


In  Nagasaki :  First  Impressions 

the  surrounding  mountain,  and  you  have  a  very 
faint  picture  of  v^hat  I  sav^." 

With  the  Japanese  servant  of  the  United  States 
Consul,  he  quickly  sought  out  the  tw^o  young 
American  Episcopal  missionaries,  of  about  his 
own  age,  who  had  been  in  China  several  years, 
but  had  been  transferred  to  Japan  the  previous 
summer.     They  were  both  bachelors— the  Rev. 
John  Liggins,  English  by  birth  but  educated  in 
an  American  Seminary,  and  the  Rev.  M.  C.  Wil- 
liams, afterward  the  beloved  bishop  of  Japan. 
They  offered  the  newcomer,  for  whom  they  had 
long    been    waiting,    shelter    and    hospitalities. 
Registering    under    the  United  States  Consul's 
protection,  though  as  yet  Mr.  Verbeck  was  not 
a  naturalized  American  citizen,  he  next  sought 
for  a  house.    Not  finding  one  he  desired  in  a 
foreign  quarter,  he  tried  to  get  one  among  the 
Japanese,  who,  though  they  did  not  absolutely 
refuse  to  furnish  shelter,  did  all  they  could  to 
weary  out  the  stranger  by  vague  promises  and 
delays,  so  that  he  had  to  run  about  from  place  to 
place   like  a  much-befooled  apprentice  among 
journeymen  old  in  the  craft  of  deception.    He 
finally  rented  a  very  good  house  for  six  months 
at  sixteen  dollars  a  month. 

There  was  no  animosity  felt  against  the  new 
American  because  he  was  a  missionary,  for 
scarcely  one  of  the  natives  knew  that  he  was  one. 
Furthermore  the  feeling  of  the  lower  classes 
toward  Christianity  was  that  of  fear,  rather  than 
hatred.    The  fact  is,  at  that  time,  the  Japanese 

81 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

considered  their  civilization  finished.  Time  was 
a  drug  in  the  market.  In  their  eyes  there  was  no 
hurry,  nor  any  need  of  it.  They  were  uncertain 
and  suspicious  of  all  foreigners.  Above  all,  they 
were  in  no  haste,  while  the  Americanized  Dutch- 
man was  in  earnest.  Investing  about  twenty- 
five  dollars  in  repairs,  including  cash  for  fifty 
panes  of  window-glass  to  take  the  place  of  paper 
pasted  over  lattice  work,  and  setting  carpenters 
and  wall-paperers  at  work,  he  soon  had  a  place 
fit  to  live  in.  He  was  amused,  as  I  have  heard 
him  tell,  in  recognizing  on  the  lips  of  the 
Japanese,  several  Dutch  words,  such  as  briki  for 
(blick,  tin),  giyaman  (diamond),  karata  (chart  or 
card),  the  names  of  medicines,  rauda  (laudanum) 
and  various  Spanish  and  Portuguese  words,  such 
as  andon  (lantern),  bidoro  (vidrio,  glass),  castira 
(sponge  cake  or  Castile  cake),  shabon  (sapon, 
soap),  etc. 

He  ordered  some  foreign  furniture  made  by 
native  joiners.  The  product  of  their  deft  fingers, 
very  cheap  and  exquisitely  beautiful  to  the  eye, 
went  so  quickly  to  pieces,  through  shrinkage  and 
scamp  work,  that  no  doubt  the  young  Dutchman 
often  longed  for  one  plain  honestly  made  kitchen 
chair  from  home.  Besides  the  tendency  of  pretty 
looking  but  flimsy  things  to  divide  and  collapse, 
he  found  that  Japanese  servants  are  not  in  all 
respects  delightful. 

Soon  a  nice  little  study  was  fitted  up,  together 
with  a  good  sleeping-room,  and  there  was  even 
a  prospect  that  by  summer  there  would  be  two 

83 


In  Nagasaki:    First  Impressions 

good  second  floor  bedrooms.  He  wrote  "Our 
kitchen  is  large  and  clean,  with  Japanese  cook- 
ing apparatus.  The  whole  house  is  beautifully 
matted  with  the  celebrated  Japanese  mats, 
which  spring  as  you  walk  on  them."  On  the 
5th  of  December  he  moved  into  his  new  quar- 
ters, at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  his  two  fellow- 
missionaries  being  at  the  top.  He  wrote  **  Both 
our  houses  are  situated  about  a  mile  from  the 
foreign  settlements  and  at  the  opposite  side  of 
the  city  so  that  we  live  very  undisturbedly,  the 
only  thing  reminding  us  of  Europe  or  America, 
being  the  shipping  which  we  see  from  our 
quarters." 

Having  written  to  his  wife,  she  arrived  from 
Shanghai  on  the  29th  day  of  December,  on  the 
same  date  that  the  other  ladies  reached  Kana- 
gawa,  so  that  the  mission  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America  was  fairly  established  in 
Japan  just  before  the  close  of  1859.  They  all 
spent  a  happy  Christian  New  Year  on  their  new 
field  of  labor. 

The  young  missionary's  birthday  fell  this  year, 
i860,  on  the  Japanese  New  Year's  Day,  when  the 
streets  were  bright  with  color  and  happy  humanity 
showed  that  it  was  a  time  of  rejoicing.  The 
weather  was  very  lovely,  but  while  the  new- 
comer enjoyed  the  new  land  and  people,  his 
memories  went  back  to  **the  Koppel "  and  to  his 
friends  in  America. 

Housekeeping  was  begun  with  a  Chinese 
servant    man,   who    did    all    the    cooking    and 

83 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

housework  at  three  dollars  a  month,  boarding 
himself,  with  a  Japanese  boy,  to  help  in  the 
kitchen  and  go  errands  at  a  little  less  than  half 
that  amount.  The  new  missionary  housekeeper 
wrote  :  **We  could  keep  two  Japanese  for  one 
Chinaman,  but  the  Chinamen  are  excellent  cooks 
and  workers  and  faithful,  whereas  Japanese  are 
ignorant  of  our  way  of  cooking  and  living, 
besides  being  slow,  dishonest,  and  very  inde- 
pendent. Yet  next  year,  when  I  can  speak  with 
them,  I  intend  to  try  them  without  Chinamen." 
This  Mr.  Verbeck  did,  employing  Japanese  serv- 
ants all  his  life  of  thirty-nine  years  of  active 
service  in  Japan,  and  finding  many  of  them  nobly 
faithful  and  honest. 

A  letter  on  the  subject  of  domestics  opens  a 
window  into  the  morality  of  the  Japan  of  the 
early  sixties.  Let  us  hope  that  there  has  been 
improvement  since. 

"In  your  before-last  letter  you  ask  something 
in  regard  to  the  source  from  which  missionaries 
were  to  get  their  servants,  as  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Alcock.  1  do  not  remember  the  place  in  Alcock, 
but  it  does  not  refer  to  us.  We  get  our  servants, 
usually  young  boys  and  girls,  from  among  the 
people,  without  the  least  difficulty  or  hindrance. 
As  a  safeguard  against  pilfering,  we  usually  get 
our  teacher  or  other  person  of  some  standing  to 
go  security  for  the  servants.  Generally  speaking, 
they  make  good  servants,  soon  learn  to  cook  for- 
eign fashion,  and  are  fond  of  children.  At  Kana- 
gawa,  I  think,  servants  are  obtained  by  application 

84 


In  Nagasaki:    First  Impressions 

at  the  Custom  House,  where  a  register  is  kept  of 
them,  and  security  given.  It  is  possible  that  some 
of  the  missionaries  wishing  to  get  female  serv- 
ants were  directed  by  the  natives  to  public  houses 
as  the  right  source,  but  I  never  heard  of  such  a 
thing. 

"When  Messrs.  Liggins  and  Williams  first  \ 
came  here,  visitors  would  sometimes  express  their 
wonder  that  these  brethren  did  not  "  keep  girls  " 
as  others  do.  My  being  married  precluded  any 
native  speculations  of  this  kind.  As  a  specimen 
of  native  notions  on  this  subject: — the  other  day 
I  walked  alone  along  a  country  path,  and  fell  in 
with  a  pretty  respectable  looking  woman,  who 
with  another  woman  (a  kind  of  servant)  and  two 
young  girls  was  busily  gathering  tea-leaves  from 
the  bushes  by  the  wayside.  After  talking  a  few 
words  with  them  and  picking  a  handful  of  the 
tender  leaves  for  their  basket,  I  asked  the  woman 
whether  those  young  girls  were  her  daughters. 
She  answered  in  the  affirmative,  and  immediately 
proposed  that  I  might  have  the  elder  daughter, 
adding  however  that  perhaps  I  would  think  her 
too  young,  as  she  was  only  just  thirteen.  And 
this  she  said  quite  seriously  and  in  the  presence 
of  the  whole  company!  And  this  is  nothing 
uncommon  in  town  or  country!  Oh,  what  de- 
gradedness,  what  moral  gloom!  Christian  coun- 
tries are  not  quite  free  from  similar  immoralities; 
but  it  is  in  darkness,  a  work  of  darkness  and 
shame.  Here  vice  stalks  about  at  noonday;  the 
people  seem  to  be  literally  blinded  and  hardened, 

85 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

and  all  moral  discernment  lost!  Of  all  the  com- 
mandments, the  fifth  is  the  only  one  that  is 
strictly  inculcated  and  observed,  and  it  is  no 
doubt  on  this  account,  that  their  days  have  been 
thus  long  upon  the  land  which  the  Lord  their 
God  gave  them. 

''But  thanks  be  to  God  that  the  gospel  will 
surely  restore  this  people  to  holiness.  Just  as 
there  was  a  proper  *  fullness  of  time '  for  Israel 
when  the  Saviour  and  His  gospel  should  be 
imparted  to  them,  so  I  suppose  every  other 
people  has  had  and  still  has  its  proper  '  fullness 
of  time.'  For  Japan,  this  comes  late,  but  not 
too  late,  and  no  doubt  it  is  to  be  now;  the  Lord 
will  hasten  it  in  His  time.  And  yet,  with  all  this 
present  vice  and  this  darkness,  when  once  sub- 
mitted to  Christ,  I  am  sure  this  people  will  be  a 
'peculiar  people'  indeed;  I  think  one  cannot  fail 
to  discover  in  them  capabilities  of  the  highest 
order,  the  germ  of  affections  most  amiable,  which 
the  new  birth  will  bring  forth." 

One  letter  tells  of  daily  diet. 

"Of  eatables  we  have  an  innumerable  variety 
of  fish,  large  and  small,  good  goat  mutton  (we 
always  call  it  mutton),  liver,  chickens,  ducks, 
and  rather  tough  beef,  all  of  it  tolerably  cheap. 
Besides  we  can  get  eggs,  many  kinds  of  vege- 
tables, especially  nice  sweet  potatoes.  Of  fruit 
we  have  fine  Japanese  oranges,  very  cheap,  per- 
simmons, pummelos,  etc.,  etc.  We  can  get  good 
sugar,  good  salt,  but  neither  milk  nor  butter. 
The  bakers  bake  excellent  bread,  sponge  cake, 

86 


In  Nagasaki:    First  Impressions 

and  many  kinds  of  cookies.  We  take  three 
meals  a  day,  about  the  same  hours  as  with  you." 

Mr.  Verbeck  thought  that  he  had  the  advantage 
over  the  more  northern  port,  "for  Kanagawa  is 
but  a  small  place  where  one  may  be  easily  con- 
spicuous, and  become  the  subject  of  watching 
and  spying,  but  in  this  large  city  (of  Nagasaki) 
we  seem  to  be  unnoticed  among  the  multitude, 
and  are  more  unmolested  in  our  operations,  be- 
sides in  course  of  time  we  shall  have  a  much 
larger  field  of  labor  among  so  many  thousand." 

Neither  Mr.  Verbeck,  nor  others,  not  even 
Townsend  Harris  or  Dr.  J.  C.  Hepburn  then  fore- 
saw that  the  splendid  city  of  Yokohama  would 
arise  on  Mississippi  Bay  to  dwarf  Kanagawa. 

Nagasaki,  or  rather  the  island  of  Deshima  in 
front  of  the  city,  had  long  been  occupied  by  a 
company  of  Dutch  merchants.  Of  these  Mr. 
Verbeck  wrote :  "Of  the  Dutch  residents  at  this 
place,  I  have  only  seen  one  or  two,  but  am  ac- 
quainted with  none,  nor  am  I  very  desirous  of 
their  or  they  of  my  acquaintance.  I  should  in- 
deed like  to  be  of  service  for  good  to  them,  but 
much  rather  desire  to  be  what  I  am  called  to  be 
exclusively,  a  missionary  of  Christ  to  the  Japa- 
nese; and  missionary  labor,  and  the  preparations 
for  it  are  so  different  from  a  pastor's  labors,  that 
it  is  difficult  to  be  pastor  and  missionary  at  once. 
This  is  the  general  opinion  of  missionaries  in  the 
field,  and  I  find  it  so." 

Later  he  wrote  of  his  once  fellow-countrymen: 
•*The  influence  of  the  Dutch  residents  is  not  so 

87 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

formidable  as  has  been  supposed  abroad.  Cer- 
tainly they  have  exerted  and  are  still  exerting  an 
influence  most  injurious  to  the  Christian  name 
and  cause;  but  adventurers  of  other  nations  have 
done  the  same  here  and  in  other  places  of  Japan; 
and  as  for  the  Dutch  opposing  an  American  Mis- 
sion, I  do  not  suppose  they  have  the  intention, 
influence,  or  power;  at  least  I  have  been  here 
now  nearly  three  months,  and  as  yet  Nagasaki 
has  been  to  me  as  though  there  were  neither 
Deshima  nor  Dutch  in  it,  and  it  may  be  so  as 
well  for  the  future.  I  should  indeed  rejoice  to  be 
of  spiritual  benefit  to  my  former  countrymen, 
but  much  more  do  I  rejoice  to  be  exclusively 
what  I  have  been  called  to  be:  a  messenger  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ  to  the  Japanese." 

It  is  only  fair,  however,  to  state,  as  Mr.  Ver- 
beck afterward  found  his  grief,  that  it  was  not 
the  Dutch  only  ^  who  were  either  the  Gallios  or 
'*hostiles."  No  bounds  of  nationality  marked 
off  the  opposers,  of  either  the  commands  of 
Jesus  or  of  those  who  obeyed  Him. 

So  in  patient  waiting,  unable  to  preach  the 
gospel,  because  dumb  as  to  the  Japanese  lan- 
guage and  bound  by  treaties  and  authorities 
restraining  open  propagation  of  a  banned  re- 
ligion, the  young  missionary  possessed  his  soul 
in  hope.  He  wrote:  *'We  look  forward  to 
years  to  come  with  warm  hopes  of  success  un- 
der God's  blessing,  knowing  that  the  time  must 

*For  the  author's  estimate  of  the  Dutchman  of  Deshima 
see  "  The  Religions  of  Japan,"  pp.  363-366. 

88 


In  Nagasaki:    First  Impressions 

surely  come  when  His  word  shall  have  free 
course  here,  and  the  name  of  Jesus  shall  be 
magnified,  and  then  humanly  speaking,  we  shall 
have  a  good  soil  to  sow  in,  for  with  all  their 
present  heathenish  darkness  and  practices,  the 
Japanese  are  a  vigorous  people,  have  a  good  ap- 
preciation of  moral  excellence  and  are  willing  to 
adopt  what  they  can  be  made  to  understand  to 
be  better  than  what  they  have,  and  are." 

It  was  an  experience  that  seemed  to  open  the 
windows  of  heaven  into  their  home  when,  three 
days  after  its  father's  thirtieth  birthday,  the  first 
Christian  baby  born  in  Japan  since  "the  reopen- 
ing "  of  the  country  saw  the  light  of  the  day 
amid  the  camphor  trees  and  bamboo  groves  and 
blossoming  plum  trees  of  Nagasaki.  They  called 
the  little  stranger  **Emma  Japonica."  The  story 
of  her  life  is  soon  told.  Let  us  read  it  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  father's  heart.  "On  the  26th  of 
January,  [i860],  we  were  rejoiced  by  a  dear  little 
daughter,  the  first  Christian  infant  born  in  Japan 
since  its  reopening  to  the  world.  After  one  week 
of  apparent  health,  and  another  of  ailing  and 
drooping,  the  Lord  in  His  wisdom  took  her  little 
soul  to  Himself,  on  the  9th  inst.  On  the  Sabbath 
before  her  death,  I  baptized  our  daughter,  *  Emma 
Japonica,'  the  first  Christian  baptism  in  Japan  for 
centuries.  Our  sorrow  at  this  sudden  bereav- 
ment  is  deep  indeed!  How  many  hopes  disap- 
pointed and  prospective  joys  turned  into  mourn- 
ing! The  harder  to  bear  in  a  heathen  wilderness 
and  solitude." 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

The  Japanese  New  Year's  Day,  on  that  year, 
1 86 1,  which  was  to  see  our  civil  war  break  out, 
fell  on  the  loth  of  February.  According  to  na- 
tive reckoning,  the  event  was  in  the  era  of 
Man-en,  and  on  its  first  and  only  year,  the  fifty- 
seventh  of  the  sixty  year  cycle.  Not  till  1872, 
did  the  Japanese  adopt  the  Gregorian  or  Occiden- 
tal calendar,  at  which  time,  also,  it  was  decided 
that  there  should  be  only  one  year  period  in  each 
emperor's  reign.  '*  The  Cycle  of  Cathay"  is  no 
longer  in  use  in  Japan,  though  a  purely  senti- 
mental starting-point,  based  on  mythology  is  that 
of  the  foundation  of  the  Japanese  empire,  cor- 
responding to  B.  c.  660. 

His  letters  find  him  absorbed  in  the  tedious 
and  arduous  work  of  mastering  the  language, 
which,  he  says  **is  as  difficult  as  the  Chinese, 
with  some  additional  difficulties.  Instead  of  go- 
ing to  preach  the  gospel,  you  are  obliged  to  ob- 
serve silence  and  almost  keep  it  a  secret  what 
you  are  accustomed  to  proclaim  as  it  were  in  the 
streets  and  from  the  house-tops,  and  then  comes 
the  plodding  over  a  grammar  and  a  dictionary 
instead.  Nevertheless,  I  feel  happy  in  my  work, 
trusting  that  the  fruit  will  come  soon  or  late. 
Ours  indeed  is  now  to  learn  to  labor  and  to 
wait."  Their  only  visitors  were  good  Christian 
friends  among  the  officers  on  board  the  British 
war  vessels  on  the  China  station.  During  mid- 
summer and  indeed  for  several  months  it  was 
rare  for  one  to  go  out  of  the  house  between  10 
and  5  p.  M.,  the  hours  being  occupied  in  study. 

90 


In  Nagasaki:    First  Impressions 

In  October  he  wrote:  "  A  journal  of  my  daily 
life  would  be  as  tedious,  as  brief  to  the  reader 
and  would  run  about  thus:  *  My  teacher  came 
this  morning;  went  to  study  till  a  little  after 
noon;  took  a  short  recess;  continued  studies  till 
the  time  for  exercise  arrived,  and  so  on  day  by 
day,  perhaps  now  and  then  a  Japanese  visitor, 
or  somebody  to  get  a  book  from  the  Shanghai 
or  Ningpo  Missionary  Press,  and  very  seldom  a 
pleasant  change  made  by  a  visit  of  some  or  other 
missionary  brother  from  the  neighboring  field  of 
China.' " 

Services  of  Christian  worship  begun  by  the 
Bishop  of  Victoria,  were  continued  by  Mr.  Wil- 
liams. At  first  the  foreigners  met  in  the  Bud- 
dhist temple,  the  walls  resounding  in  the  solemn 
notes  of  our  beloved  Old  Hundred.  Then  they 
were  held  in  a  large  upper  room  above  a  ware- 
house on  Deshima,  ''so  that  the  first  Christian 
service  held  on  Deshima,  since  more  than  two 
centuries,  are  English  services  and  held  by  an 
American."  About  this  time  Mr.  Verbeck  began 
to  ''load  and  prime"  the  vanguard  of  the  in- 
numerable army  of  writers  who  have  each  "  per- 
petrated a  book"  upon  Japan.  Some  of  these 
knights  of  the  notebook  were  merciless  in  their 
quizzing,  as  if  Mr.  Verbeck  were  an  encyclo- 
paedia of  knowledge  concerning  the  Japanese 
and  their  country. 

Times  were  peaceable  in  Nagasaki  as  compared 
with  those  at  Kanagawa  which,  like  Yedo,  was 
becoming  a  political  storm  centre.    Mr.  Verbeck 
91 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

was  glad  that  the  missionary  secretary  and  the 
Board  of  Missions  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
America  had  officially  approved  of  his  location  at 
Nagasaki.  It  was  also  intimated  that  possibly  a 
new  missionary,  Rev.  James  H.  Ballagh,  might 
be  sent  out  in  reinforcement.  In  February,  1861, 
he  enjoyed  a  visit  from  that  grand  missionary, 
the  apostle  of  Shantung,  the  Rev.  John  Nevius 
and  his  wife. 

Along  with  this  sunshiny  experience,  lay  the 
dark  shadow  of  the  news  of  the  assassination  on 
January  15th,  1 861,  in  the  streets  of  Yedo  of  Mr. 
Heusken,  Mr.  Townsend  Harris's  secretary  and 
the  Dutch  interpreter  of  the  United  States  Lega- 
tion. This  tragic  event  was  followed  by  the  re- 
moval from  Yedo  of  all  the  foreign  ministers  to 
Yokohama  and  of  all  the  foreign  consuls,  except 
the  American,  from  Kanagawa  to  the  same  place. 
Mr.  Harris  remained  in  Yedo  keeping  the  stars 
and  stripes  afloat.  For  nearly  ten  years  Japan 
felt  the  humiliation  and  all  the  world  wondered 
at  the  strange  spectacle  of  foreign  legations  in  the 
country  but  not  at  the  capital.  Yet  none  of  these 
events  disturbed  the  quiet  life  at  Nagasaki. 

Though  the  clouds  of  civil  war  were  gathering 
over  Japan,  things  went  on  as  usual  in  the  sunny 
south.  Mr.  Verbeck  wrote,  "We  pray  that  a 
general  war  may  be  averted  and  safety  be  re- 
stored at  the  North  without  bloodshed."  Neither 
he  nor  any  other  foreigner  then  knew  the  real 
political  history  of  Japan,  nor  was  able  to  discern 
the  signs  of  the  times,  which  portended  revolu- 


In  Nagasaki:    First  Impressions 

\ 

tion  and  a  new  birth  of  national  life.    In  a  lecture  ] 

delivered  in  Tokio,  in  1898,  a  few  months  before  \ 

his  death,  he  said:  ! 

''Present   Japan — this    beautiful   Japan    came  : 

from  beyond  the  sea.     I,  by  saying  this,  have  i 

not  a  bit  of  mind  to  shame  you,  but  am  rather  | 

one  of  those  who  admire  the  wisdom  of  having  \ 

implanted,  within  the  short  time  of  thirty  years,  \ 

all  the  western  things,  which  have  been  the  re-  \ 

suit  of  several  hundred  years'  labor.  \ 

*'  Generally  speaking,  the  people  in  those  times '  i 
seemed  not  to  know  anything  of  patriotism,  so;  ^  ' 
much  spoken  of  at  present.  The  word  chugi\(^^^^ 
was  always  on  the  mouth  of  the  then  warriors, ;  v  ^  ^, 
by  which  they  meant  fealty  to  their  lords,  self-  \  ^^ 

surrender  to  the  cause  of  their  masters.     Those  i 

samurai  knew  of  the  existence  of  their  clan,  but  \ 
nothing  about  Japan." 

His  first  year's  report  as  missionary  was  a  faint  \ 
cry,  de  profundts— just  the  kind  which  furnishes 
sport  for  all  the  Philistines,  ancient  and  modern, 

who  jeer  over  foundation  work  and  sneer  at  the  ■ 

labor  of  bridge-builders,  who  invisibly  toil  in  the  \ 

caissons,  as  waste  and  ask  with  jibes  "do  mis-  i 

sions  pay?"  ] 

The  civil  war  in  the  United  States  cast  its  cloud  j 

over  the  Americans  in  Japan.     The  Episcopal  ] 

mission   feared,  as  Dr.   Verbeck  did,  that  their  j 

medical  missionary  Dr.  Schmid  might,  for  lack  | 

of  means,  be  called  home  from  Nagasaki.     This  i 

was  because  their  supporters  lived  both  above  \ 

and    below    the    slavery   line.     The    Reformed  j 

93 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Dutch  Church,  more  happily  situated,  never  hav- 
ing any  connection  with  the  controversy  which 
rent  other  churches,  steadily  maintained  its  mis- 
sion without  halt  or  break.  Even  after  civil  war 
had  begun,  the  Reformed  Church  sent  out,  on 
the  first  of  June,  1861,  two  missionaries  to  China 
and  one,  Rev.  J.  H.  Ballagh,  to  Japan.  The  latter 
settled  at  Yokohama,  seven  years  later  in  1868, 
meeting  Mr.  Verbeck  at  Osaka. 

Mr.  Verbeck's  experience  of  living  at  the  foot 
of  the  hill  in  Nagasaki  showed  him  that  the  situ- 
ation was  not  as  salubrious  as  that  on  the  hill  slope. 
During  the  rainy  season  in  Japan,  when  all  or- 
ganic textures  quickly  gather  mold,  through 
combined  heat  and  moisture,  the  house  was  un- 
wholesomely  damp.  Finding  a  desirable  location 
on  the  hill,  whence  a  fine  view  over  the  city  and 
harbor  was  obtained,  they  moved  thither.  Some 
of  the  pupils  helped  to  move  their  goods.  It 
was  amusing — alas,  sorrowful  and  exasperating, 
also — to  see  how  the  natives  packed  up  things. 
Happy  indeed  is  the  foreigner  who  can  think 
without  woe  and  grief  of  these  early  days  of 
packing,  when  if  one  did  not  watch,  the  bronzes 
would  get  on  top  of  the  porcelain  and  heavy 
things  worth  a  penny  would  smash  precious 
things  worth  many  pounds.  Mr.  Verbeck  soon 
found  he  was  not  living  in  the  Garden  of  Eden, 
nor  in  the  imaginary  Japan  of  those  rhapsodists 
who,  at  the  end  of  this  century,  picture  the 
Japanese  as  guileless  or  nearly  immaculate.  In 
short  he  was  robbed,  the  burglars  coming  into 
94 


In  Nagasaki:    First  Impressions 

his  bedroom,  noiselessly  and  very  effectively. 
One  of  his  pupils  visiting  a  pawnbroker's  shop 
and  seeing  the  name  ''Guido  F.  Verbeck"  on  a 
telescope,  recovered  this  article  and  also  a  clock, 
spoons,  forks,  and  knives  which  the  pendulards 
had  stolen  six  months  before. 

These  were  the  days  of  the  unreformed  prison} 
system  in  Japan  when  justice,  such  as  it  was, 
was  administered,  according  to  Chinese  codes  of/ 
laws,  when  the  torture  of  witnesses  in  court  to 
obtain  testimony  was  the  rule.  How  different 
to-day  when  Japan  has  not  only  a  prison  system 
excelling  that  of  some  European  states  but  has 
influenced  Korea  and  China  to  like  reforms. 
Hear  Mr.  Verbeck  tell  how,  hearing  cries  for 
help,  he  chivalrously  rallied  forth  and  wisely  in- 
terfered not. 

''There  were  no  lawyers  but  a  kind  of  petti- 
fogger, which  went  by  the  name  of  kujishi. 
They  never  defended  clients  at  court  but  gave 
advice  privately. 

"  How  dirty  the  prisons  were,  words  fail  to 
describe.  Gomon  (examination  of  prisoners  by 
torture)  was  always  employed.  It  was  at  a  cer- 
tain night  during  my  sojourn  at  Nagasaki,  that  I 
heard  a  plaintive  cry,  the  remembrance  of  which 
is  still  a  shock  to  me.  Wondering  what  that 
was,  I  stole  out  of  my  house,  and  looked  down,  a 
musket  in  hand,  far  beneath,  when  I  found  that 
several  warders  were  whipping  the  prisoners, 
who  were  the  subjects  of  that  cry.  I,  who  was 
yet  young  was  about  to  aim  at  the  cruel  officials 

95 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

with  my  musket,  but  was  restrained  from  this 
by  myself." 

All  over  the  land  in  city,  town,  and  village,  by 
ferry  and  in  market,  we  must  remember  the  anti- 
Christian  edicts  hung  with  the  other  ko-satsu,  or 
little  notice  boards  in  plain  view  of  all.  We  give 
the  text  of  1862: 

"  The  Christian  religion  has  been  prohibited  for 
many  years.  If  any  one  is  suspected,  a  report 
must  be  made  at  once. 

*'  REWARDS. 

"  To  the  informer  of  a  bateren  (father),  500 
pieces  of  silver. 

''To  the  informer  of  an  human  (brother),  300 
pieces  of  silver. 

"  To  the  informer  of  a  Christian  who  once  re- 
canted, 300  pieces  of  silver. 

"To  the  informer  of  a  Christian  or  catechist, 
300  pieces  of  silver. 

''  To  the  informer  of  a  family  who  shelters  any 
of  the  above,  300  pieces  of  silver. 

*'  The  above  rewards  will  be  given.  If  any  one 
will  inform  concerning  his  own  family,  he  will 
be  rewarded  with  500  pieces  of  silver,  or  accord- 
ing to  the  information  he  furnishes.  If  any  one 
conceals  an  offender,  and  the  fact  is  detected, 
then  the  head  man  of  the  village  in  which  the 
concealer  lives,  and  the  'five-men-company*  to 
which  he  belongs,  and  his  family  and  relatives, 
will  all  be  punished  together." 

Seeing  that  he  could  not  openly  preach  the  gos- 

96 


In  Nagasaki:    First  Impressions 

pel,  Mr.  Verbeck  was  diligently  disposing  of 
Bibles  in  Chinese,  which  the  educated  samurai  or 
wearers  of  two  swords  could  read.  Under  his 
oversight,  two  young  officers  were  already  dili- 
gently perusing  this  version  of  the  Bible  and  try- 
ing to  understand  it. 

New  cause  for  gratitude  to  God  came  into  the 
missionary  home,  for  a  little  baby  (now  Colonel 
William  Verbeck,  Head  Master  of  St.  John's 
[Military]  School  at  Manlius,  N.  Y.)  had  made 
his  advent  upon  earth.  His  father  writes  of  him, 
''Willie  is  big  and  strong  and  affords  us  great 
pleasure  and  company.  .  .  .  Poor  fellow, 
he  does  not  know  with  which  (language)  to  be- 
gin, English  or  Japanese,  or  even  perhaps  Ger- 
man, which  I  should  like  most  of  all."  In  the 
missionary  home,  the  children  not  only  had  to  be 
reared  and  protected  against  the  contamination  of 
paganism,  but  also  against  the  diseases,  such  as 
smallpox  and  measles,  then  very  prevalent  and 
but  slightly  controlled,  for  the  Japanese  were 
then  but  slenderly  equipped  for  the  mastery  of 
these  contagious  diseases.  It  was  quite  common 
for  smallpox  patients  to  roam  around  freely,  the 
only  notice  to  a  stranger  of  infected  children 
being  the  wearing  of  a  pink  cap.  Dr.  Kitasato 
was  not  yet.  The  procession  of  physicians 
trained  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Hepburn,  now  a  host,  was 
just  beginning  to  mark  time. 

By  request  from  New  York,  Mr.  Verbeck  made 
researches  and  forwarded,  with  other  matter,  a 
note  on  epidemics  in  Japan. 

97 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

"According  to  information  received  from  a 
Japanese  physician,  the  smallpox  first  appeared 
in  this  country  a.  d.  731.  Ancient  chronicles 
state  that  a  renowned  native  scholar  was  on  a 
visit  to  China  for  the  purpose  of  studying  Chinese 
sciences,  when  on  his  return  home  in  the  above 
year,  he  brought  the  smallpox  with  him.  Euro- 
pean vaccination  was  first  introduced  in  1846, 
and  is  more  and  more  adopted.  The  measles, 
originating  at  Nagasaki,  in  1471,  are  supposed 
likewise  to  have  come  from  China.  Of  cholera, 
there  occurred  a  few  cases  at  Nagasaki  about 
thirty  years  ago  [1832];  and  its  introduction  is 
also  ascribed  to  the  Chinese  traders  at  this  port. 
But  it  was  not  till  1858  that  it  began  to  ravage  the 
country  as  a  sweeping  epidemic.  Cholera,  ap- 
pearing soon  after  the  opening  of  Japan  to  for- 
eigners, is  perhaps  correctly  supposed  to  be  a 
source  of  antipathy  to  foreign  intercourse.  In 
nearly  all  the  principalities,  public  or  government 
hospitals  for  the  free  treatment  of  these  and  other 
diseases  have  been  established.  The  European 
treatment  of  diseases  finds  great  favor,  and  in 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  a  host  of  old-school 
(Chinese)  doctors  and  a  superstitious  populace, 
its  ultimate  triumph  over  the  Chinese  method  is 
clearly  to  be  foreseen.  And  shall  not  in  like 
manner  the  gospel  of  Christ  prevail  over  Bud- 
dhism and  heathen  philosophies!  " 

Guido  Verbeck  was  a  true  prophet.  He  cared 
not  to  predict,  but  he  saw  the  truth  clearly.  He 
knew  what  was  in  man,  read  the  Japanese  heart 


In  Nagasaki :    First  Impressions 

through  and  through  and  could  often  foresee  the 
fruits  of  a  course  of  action,  so  that  often  men 
looked  at  him  in  reverence,  supposing  he  had 
some  magic  power.  Yet  his  was  an  open  secret 
such  as  lies  in  two  old  proverbs,  as  pre-ancient 
as  copy  books.  These  are  "Knowledge  is 
power,"  and  "  Truth  is  mighty  and  must  prevail." 
Streams  of  influence  were  uniting.  The  Bible 
class  at  Saga  in  Hizen  was  still  kept  up  by 
Wakasa,  who  needing  more  light  and  detailed  in- 
struction, sent  his  younger  brother  to  Nagasaki. 
*' Accidentally,"  shall  we  say.^  the  seeker  for 
truth  found  Mr.  Verbeck  and  became  his  pupil. 


VI 

POLITICAL    UPHEAVAL 

On  January  24th,  1862,  twenty-four  days  before 
the  last  day  in  the  last  year  in  the  cycle  of  sixty 
years,  the  Japanese  New  Year,  beginning  Febru- 
ary 1 8th,  Mr.  Verbeck  wrote  encouragingly, 
though  his  eyes  were  red  with  inflammation 
from  poring  over  Chinese  and  Japanese  char- 
acters. At  the  Episcopal  church  he  led  the  sing- 
ing and  played  the  harmonium,  but  it  was  a  good 
congregation  when  fifteen  or  twenty  people  were 
at  church,  for  devoutness  and  love  of  worship 
are  not  the  shining  characteristics  of  the  foreigner 
at  the  treaty  port.  Unusually  the  average  Chris- 
tian from  home  becomes  a  Demas  when  abroad. 
The  extreme  worldliness  and  secret  or  open  im- 
morality of  people  in  the  new  treaty  ports,  who 
would  be  accounted  highly  respectable  at  home, 
is  one  obvious  and  sufficient  reason  why  there  is 
not  usually  much  harmony  or  sympathy  between 
the  mercantile  and  missionary  classes.  As  Mr. 
Williams  was  soon  to  move  into  the  foreign 
settlement,  the  Verbecks  and  Dr.  Siebold,  "  who 
was  half  a  Japanese  himself,"  were  the  only  ones 
outside  the  foreign  quarter,  and  the  rents  were 
one-fourth  what  he  should  otherwise  have  to  pay. 

In  one  of  his  letters  concerning  some  curiosities 
100 


Political    Upheaval 

sent  home  to  his  brother,  it  is  very  evident  that 
American  appreciation  of  Japanese  objects,  either 
artistic  or  flamboyant,  had  not  then  reached  the 
point  of  either  a  fad  or  a  craze.  The  market  was 
not  overstocked  and  the  unknown  was  the  mag- 
nificent. Many  things  were  appraised  in  New 
York  at  ten  or  twenty  times  their  real  value. 

Another  of  his  letters  has  some  wholesome 
criticism  of  our  country  and  people.  He  wrote  : 
"My  thoughts  were  much  with  you  when  in 
Zeist.  Shall  I  ever  re-visit  that  dear  place  ?  Oh ! 
how  I  should  enjoy  once  more  to  move 
among  many  of  those  dear  people  who  knew 
nothing  of  that  exterior  show,  with  interior  hol- 
lowness  and  coldness,  so  common  in  America. 
I  love  America,  and  I  think  God  has  great  things 
in  store  for  it,  but  if  1  were  to  choose  a  home  for 
happiness  in  this  life,  an  exchange  of  true  affec- 
tionate feelings,  I  should  not  choose  it  in  America. 
I  do  not  wish  to  be  misunderstood  ;  I  consider 
America  as  a  young  giant,  a  country  in  a  restless 
state  of  development.  I  love  its  institutions  and 
should  wish  to  see  them  established  all  over  the 
world,  but  it  is  not  in  the  bosom  of  such  a  fer- 
menting country  that  I  should  look  for  what  I 
consider  real  social  happiness." 

How  that  preparatory  work  went  on,  by  which 
at  Nagasaki  he  was  fitted  for  his  life  in  Tokio  of 
nearly  thirty  years,  as  the  nursing  father  of  a  new 
nation,  is  shown  in  his  letters.  Guido  Verbeck 
began  his  great  work  as  teacher  in  Japan,  with  a 
Bible  class  of  two  young  men,  of  whom  one  was 

101 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Ayabe,  a  younger  brother  of  Murata,  Wakasa 
no  Kami. 

**I  proceeded,"  he  writes  under  date  of  June 
5th,  1862,  "in  my  studies  about  as  usual,  but 
have,  at  the  same  time,  a  beginning  of  opportuni- 
ties for  doing  real  missionary  work.  Again,  I 
must  say,  the  beginnings  are  small;  yet,  may  we 
prove  'faithful  in  a  few  things,'  and  more  will 
be  entrusted  to  us.  A  short  time  ago  one  of  my 
English  pupils  surprised  me  by  saying,  that  he 
had  bought  an  English  Bible,  but  found  it  very 
difficult  to  understand.  I  told  him  I  would  come 
to  his  house  the  next  day  (Sunday),  and  would 
gladly  help  him  read  his  Bible.  When  I  went 
there,  I  found  him  and  another  of  my  pupils  try- 
ing to  decipher  the  contents  of  a  small  volume  of 
the  American  Tract  Society,  entitled  'A  Pastor's 
Counsel  to  the  Young.'  The  book  being  of  a 
merely  religious  character,  made  him  think  it 
was  a  Bible,  perhaps  thinking  this  to  be  a  general 
term  for  religious  books.  Of  course  1  corrected 
his  error,  promised,  and  afterward  gave  him  a 
real  Bible. 
^  "  It  is  remarkable  how  every  kind  of  Christian 
knowledge  has  vanished  with  a  people  among 
whom  Christianity  had  its  thousands  of  follow- 
ers, but  a  little  over  three  hundred  years  ago,  even 
though  in  a  corrupted  form — another  proof  of  how 
thoroughly  the  work  of  eradicating  every  vestige 
of  our  blessed  religion  has  been  done.  We  are 
sometimes  surprised  to  hear  a  man  ask,  whether 
Jesus  was  an  Englishman,  or  another,  whether 
102 


Political    Upheaval 

the  places  mentioned  in  the  Scripture  are  at  all 
known  to  modern  geographers,  and  whether  we 
now  know  of  the  persons  of  the  Bible,  if  they  ' 
were  born  and  lived  in  Holland,  or  England,  or 
Spain.     Such  ignorance  is  common  with  the  edu- 
cated as  well    as   the   uneducated,   since  their 
sources  of  information  on  such  questions  have, 
been  cut  off  entirely  for  the  last  three  hundred  ; 
years.  \ 

*'  For  the  two  Bible  students  above  mentioned, 
I  am  now  preparing  a  kind  of  'helps  to  the 
Scriptures '  in  English.  I  give  it  to  them  from 
week  to  week  in  single  sheets,  which  they  bring 
to  their  regular  lessons,  when  I  have  a  further 
opportunity  to  explain  by  means  of  English, 
Dutch,  and  Japanese  such  points  as  seem  still 
difficult  for  them.  These  men  have  their  English 
lessons  with  me  at  different  times,  that  is  sepa- 
rately;  but  every  Sabbath  they  meet  together  for 
the  re-reading  of  the  explanatory  sheets.  These 
sheets  are  as  yet  only  introductory  to  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  itself,  but  by  and  by  I  hope  to  lead 
these  men  on  in  reading  it  also.  This,  my  first 
Japanese  Bible  class,  is  the  more  interesting  to 
me,  as  it  originated  at  the  suggestion  of  the  pu- 
pils, one  of  whom,  though  otherwise  an  exceed- 
ingly nice  man,  I  had  not  thought  of  having  any 
wishes  in  this  direction.  God  grant  that  these 
two  Bible  students  may  be  among  the  number  of 
the  first  fruits  of  Japan  unto  Christ. 

**Now  and  then  I  give  away  a  copy  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  in  Chinese,  but  have  not  had  as 

103 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

many  opportunities  since  the  beginning  of  the 
present  year  as  I  had  during  the  last  three  months 
of  the  past  year.  One  reason  may  be  that  all  my 
immediate  acquaintances  are  now  supplied.  The 
proposed  serial,  [of  which  Mr.  Verbeck  had  sug- 
gested the  publication]  if  it  be  brought  about, 
will  also  be  the  means  of  bringing  many  more 
people  to  my  house  than  at  present,  even  now 
people  sometimes  come  to  me  for  a  number  of 
the  old  Ningpo  or  Shanghai  serial,  though  both 
of  these  have  been  discontinued  for  more  than  a 
year.  And  many  people  will  want  the  Bible  to 
learn  more  of  the  subjects,  which  the  serial 
can  only  treat  of  in  a  fragmentary  form.  The 
serial  is  to  form  a  kind  of  stepping  stone  to 
the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  and  religious 
books." 

We  must  glance  again  at  the  political  back- 
ground, now  so  clear  in  the  perspective  of  history, 
but  then  crowded  with  figures  and  events  in  such 
confusion,  that  no  foreigner  could  see  clearly  or 
interpret  intelligently. 

In  Yedo  the  regent  had  roused  the  ire  of  his 
political  enemies  and  all  reactionaries  and  fanatics 
by  signing  on  his  own  responsibility  the  Harris 
American  Treaty  and  opening  the  ports  to  foreign 
trade  and  residence.  In  Old  Japan,  government 
was  "despotism  tempered  by  assassination." 
A  band  of  ronin  desperadoes  determined  to 
*'move  a  vote  of  censure"  in  the  good  old- 
fashioned  way — by  the  sword. 

On  March  23d,  i860,  a  determined  band  of 
104 


Political    Upheaval 

seventeen  of  these  ronin  suddenly  attacked  the 
regent's  escort  while  he  was  on  his  way  to  the 
castle  and  near  the  Cherry  Field  Gate.  In  the 
bloody  battle  which  ensued,  in  the  snowstorm, 
his  followers  being  taken  by  surprise,  had  to 
draw  so  quickly  that  for  the  most  part  they 
fought  at  first  with  sheathed  swords,  until  the 
splitting  of  the  wooden  scabbards  freed  their  keen 
blades.  Nevertheless,  despite  these  drawbacks, 
no  fewer  than  eight  of  the  assailants  were  killed 
or  died  of  their  wounds.  Of  the  escort,  twenty- 
three  were  put  hors  de  combat,  of  whom  eight 
died.  The  Premier  li  was  speared  in  his  palanquin 
and  then  beheaded.  For  a  generation  his  name 
was  execrated  and  his  reputation  lay  under  a 
cloud  of  aspersion,  until  cleansed  and  made  to 
shine  with  honor  through  the  scholarly  labors,  in 
Japanese,  of  Mr.  Shimada  Saburo,^  editor  of  the 
Yokohama  daily  newspaper,  and  of  Mr.  Henry 
Satoh,'  who  has  condensed  the  story  of  vindica- 
tion into  flowing  English  periods.  In  fiction,  the 
episode  has  been  gracefully  treated  by  Mr.  Arthur 
Collins  Maclay  in  "  Mito  Yashiki." 

The  danger  to  foreigners  after  the  signing  of 
the  treaties  was  very  great,  especially  in  eastern 
Japan,  and  there  were  several  murderers  of 
Europeans  and  of  their  Japanese  servants.  The 
foreign  diplomatists,  missionaries,  and  merchants 
were  warned  against  the  two-sworded  tramps, 
but  early  in  1861  the  secretary  of  the  American 

»  Kai-koku  Shimatsu.  •  Agitated  Japan. 

105 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

legation,  Mr.  Heusken^  was  cut  to  pieces  in 
Yedo.  All  the  foreign  ministers,  except  Mr. 
Harris,  then  struck  their  flags  and  retired  to 
Yokohama,  leaving  the  American  alone,  with  the 
stars  and  stripes,  in  the  feudal  capital. 

The  emperor's  sister  was  married  to  the 
Shogun,  and  for  a  while  Yedo  was  peaceful,  gay 
and  festal,  but  again  the  epidemic  of  assassination 
and  incendiarism  broke  out,  participated  in  by 
some  of  the  men  who  afterward,  at  the  end  of 
the  century,  became  high  officers  in  the  Imperial 
Government  in  Tokio.  Their  sincere  purpose  was 
to  embroil  the  Tycoon  with  the  Treaty  Power  in 
order  that  he  could  be  overthrown  and  the  Mikado 
restored  to  supreme  power.  Opposed  to  the 
Shogun's  government,  also,  was  the  powerful 
prince  of  Mito  in  the  northeast,  besides  the 
maritime  daimios  in  the  southwest.  The  latter 
soon  began  to  arm  and  fortify,  especially  at 
Shimonoseki,  against  the  Yedo  ruler.  When  the 
Satsuma  and  Choshiu  clans  met  together  at 
Kioto,  where  they  were  joined  by  hundreds  of 
ronin,  things  began  to  look  very  threatening,  for 
a  conspiracy  was  formed  to  take  the  castle  of 
Osaka  by  assault,  burn  the  castle  of  Hikone  or 
Baron  li,  on  Lake  Biwa,  and  put  to  the  sword  the 
garrison  of  the  castle  of  Nijo,  or  the  Shogun's 
residence,  in  Kioto.  The  inflamed  patriots  hoped 
then  that  the  emperor  would  come  out  of  his 
retirement,  and  set  forth  in  person  to  conquer 

^  See  the  author's  "  Townsend  Harris,  First  American  Envoy 
in  Japan." 

106 


Political    Upheaval 

and  drive  out  "the  barbarians"  from  the  sacred 
soil  of  Japan.  Then  the  upright  men  who  were 
in  captivity,  on  account  of  their  hostiUty  to  for- 
eigners, should  be  released.  The  **  Phoenix  Car  " 
would  be  carried  over  the  Hakone  Pass  to  Yedo, 
and  the  Tycoon  and  his  minions  be  punished  for 
their  crimes. 

The  British  Legation  in  Yedo  was  attacked, 
June    26th,    1862,  and  two  marines  killed,  for 
which  the  Japanese  government  in  Yedo  were 
compelled  to  pay  fifty  thousand  dollars  indemnity. 
The  Satsuma  clansmen  petitioned  the  Tycoon  to 
drive   out  the  foreigners,    close  up  the   treaty 
port,  ''appease  the  sacred  wrath  of  the  Mikado's 
divine  ancestors "  and  restore  tranquillity  to  the 
empire.    The  document  embodying  these  absurd 
demands  now  reads  very  strangely,  stuffed  full, 
as  it  is,  with  ancient  rhetoric  and  Chinese  illus- 
trations.    It  was  presented  by  the  court  noble 
Ohara  and  the  notorious  Shimadzu  Saburo.   They 
were  escorted  by  six  hundred  armed  men,  who 
marched  to  Yedo  in  all  the  bravery  of  flags, 
umbrellas,  boxes,  and  other  truck,  now  bric-a- 
brac,  like  old  armor  and  spinning  wheels.    The 
result  was  that  the  eminent  men  made  prisoners 
under  the  late  regent's  orders  were  restored  to 
honor.     Hitotsu  Bashi,  (literally  Mr.  One  or  First 
Bridge)    or,  in   Chinese,   Keiki,  was  appointed 
guardian  of  the  young  Shogun,  and  the  prince  of 
Echizen  became  supreme  exerciser  of  the  govern- 
ment authority.     Meanwhile  the  Japanese  envoys 
sent  to  London  had  secured  from  the  British  gov- 

107 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

ernment  a  delay  in  opening  further  ports  to  foreign 
commerce. 

The  prince  of  Satsuma  was  for  some  reason  in 
a  very  angry  humor  when  returning  from  Yedo, 
on  the  14th  of  September.  In  his  train  were  about 
a  hundred  men,  who  preceded  him  in  a  single 
file  on  either  side  of  the  road.  All  wore  swords, 
according  to  custom.  Three  English  gentlemen 
and  a  lady  were  riding  along  the  road  and  were 
attacked  by  the  Satsuma  clansmen,  two  of  the 
Englishmen  being  severely  wounded  and  the 
other  cut  to  death.  The  wounds  were  dressed 
by  Dr.  J.  C.  Hepburn  of  the  American  Mission. 
Mr.  Richardson  was  so  badly  wounded  that  he 
fell  from  his  horse  to  the  road.  His  body  was 
afterward  hacked  and  speared,  for  it  was  then 
the  common  custom  for  the  two-sworded  men 
to  practice  with  their  weapons  upon  dead  bodies. 
Concerning  this  altercation,  Mr.  Verbeck  wrote 
on  September  29th : 

'*  At  first  view  it  would  seem  rather  strange 
that  so  many  murders  and  attacks  should  be  per- 
petrated at  Yedo  and  Kanagawa,  and  not  in  a 
single  instance  at  Nagasaki;  yet  I  think  this 
difference  can  be  accounted  for.  The  nearness 
of  Kanagawa  to  Yedo,  with  its  hosts  of  arrogant 
officials  and  petty  nobles;  its  nearness  to  the 
Tokaido,  the  great  highway  of  the  empire,  fre- 
quently thronged  by  travelling  princes  with  their 
numerous  retainers;  the  probable  desire  of  the 
government  to  see  all  foreign  trade  carried  on  at 
the  greatest  possible  distance  from  the  two  cap- 

108 


Political    Upheaval 

itals,  perhaps  at  Nagasaki  rather  than  at  any  other 
port  in  the  empire;  the  foreigners'  general  want 
of  appreciation  of  the  higher  classes  and  nobility 
among  Asiatics,  and  the  consequent  seeming  (to 
the  natives)  or  real  overbearing  conduct  of 
foreigners  toward  natives  of  high  rank;  the 
probably  decided  antipathy  of  a  few  princes  at 
or  near  Yedo  against  all  foreign  intercourse 
whatsoever,  all  these,  and  perhaps  a  few  minor 
circumstances  more,  sufficiently  account  for  the 
frequent  collisions  between  foreigners  and  na- 
tives." 

In  mid-July  he  wrote: 

"  My  little  Bible  class  of  two  goes  on  encourag- 
ingly ;  one  of  the  scholars  translates  my  notes  on 
the  Scriptures  into  Japanese.  He  told  me  some 
days  ago,  that  he  thought  that  the  exclusiveness 
of  his  country  and  any  past  misunderstandings 
with  foreigners,  were  owing  to  a  want  of 
knowledge  of  the  nature  and  tendency  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  that  the  best  preventive 
of  future  troubles  would  be  to  acquaint  his 
countrymen  with  these,  and  that  therefore  he 
would  write  out  my  explanations  in  the  com- 
mon popular  style  of  writing." 

The  Bakufu  now  began  to  go  to  pieces.  The 
compulsory  residence  of  the  daimios  in  Yedo 
was  abolished.  The  Shogun  was  summoned  to 
Kioto,  arriving  at  the  end  of  January,  1863.  In 
the  swing  of  the  political  pendulum,  the  old 
party  in  favor  of  foreigners  had  fallen  into  dis- 
grace and  those  wishing  to  expel  foreigners  and 

109 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

close  the  ports  had  risen  on  the  arc.  At  vast 
expense,  the  edifices  of  the  British  legation  were 
built  by  the  Yedo  government,  on  the  hill  of 
Goten,  but  the  ronins  burnt  them  to  the  ground. 
Kioto  now  became  the  gathering  place  of  the 
clans.  The  Shogun  entered  with  his  train  on 
April  2 1  St,  1863,  making  handsome  presents  to 
the  emperor  and  the  nobles  to  an  extent  that 
greatly  curtailed  his  exchequer.  When  the 
troubles  thickened  between  the  British  and  Sat- 
suma,  and  the  Bakufu  and  Choshiu,  it  looked  as 
though  the  foreigners  at  Nagasaki  and  other 
ports  were  to  be  slaughtered.  Ayabe  came  with 
a  message  from  Murata  warning  Mr.  Verbeck  to 
fly  for  his  life,  as  he  and  his  household  were 
certainly  in  danger.  Leaving  his  city  home  on 
the  hills,  the  missionary  father  moved  with  wife 
and  children  to  Deshima  the  island  in  front  of 
the  city,  writing  as  follows: 

"Nagasaki,  Japan,  28  April,  1863. 
"Deshima,  Kaempfer's  House. 
"Dear  Brother: — 

"  From  the  above  heading  you  see. that  we 
(the  family)  have  been  moving,  and  indeed  to  a 
historic  place:  the  house  of  the  historian  of  Japan, 
Dr.  Kaempfer.  This  is  not  however  the  iden- 
tical house  and  rooms  occupied  by  honest  old 
Kaempfer;  yet  from  my  window  I  see  his  name 
and  that  of  the  hardly  less  celebrated  Thunberg 
engraved  on  a  miniature  rock  in  the  garden,  an 
indication  that  our  present  dwelling  stands  very 
nearly  on  the  spot  where  his  once  stood.  But 
why  do  we  come  to  this  place?  is  a  more  im- 
portant question  with  a  less  doubtful  reply." 
110 


Political    Upheaval 

The  next  letter  is  dated  in  Shanghai.  It  shows 
how  he  proposed  to  spend  his  precious  moments 
even  in  exile  from  his  post,  in  studying  the 
Chinese  characters,  so  necessary  for  the  read- 
ing of  ordinary  Japanese  books.  It  eventu- 
ated that  Mr.  Verbeck  was  of  great  benefit  in 
getting  under  way  facilities  for  printing  Japanese 
script.  In  a  sense,  he  was,  with  Mr.  Gamble, 
the  founder  of  the  printing  press  of  Japan. 

At  the  first  opportunity  he  returned  to  Japan, 
reaching  Nagasaki,  October  13th,  making  his 
home  for  awhile  on  Deshima. 

The  volcano  of  Japanese  politics  now  devel- 
oped a  fresh  crater  of  war. 

While  negotiations  for  indemnity  between 
Yedo  and  London  were  going  on,  the  three  great 
clans,  Satsuma,  Choshiu,  and  Tosa,  made  that 
combination  which  lasted  under  the  popular 
name  of  *'Sat-Cho-To,"  until  the  dawn  of  Con- 
stitutional Japan  and  government  by  party,  in  the 
late  nineties.  The  year  1863  had  opened  with  an 
exodus  of  natives  from  Yokohama,  terrorized  by 
the  ronins  and  the  fear  that  the  foreign  squadron 
might  bombard  the  place,  but  the  British  fleet 
went  to  Kagoshima.  The  American  legation 
suffered  from  fire,  probably  from  ronins  on  May 
24th.  Yedo  and  Kanagawa  being  rid  of  foreign- 
ers, steps  were  taken  to  confine  them  in  Yoko- 
hama, but  the  Shogun  reported  to  the  emperor 
that  the  foreigners  could  not  be  expelled.  The 
Choshiu  clansmen,  raising  the  flag  inscribed  "In 
obedience  to  the  Imperial  Order,"  erected,  on  the 
111 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

rocky  and  woody  heights  overlooking  the  nar- 
row straits  of  Shimonoseki,  batteries  of  heavy 
guns.  They  began  indiscriminate  firing  on  every 
foreign  vessel  that  passed  through,  American, 
Dutch,  and  French,  and  even,  by  mistake,  on  a 
Satsuma  vessel,  in  foreign  style.  After  fruitless 
conferences,  the  British  sent  their  squadron  to 
Kagoshima  and  seized  three  steamers.  Being 
fired  upon,  they  bombarded  and  burnt  part  of 
the  town.  This  took  place  between  August  12th 
and  17th  while  Mr.  Verbeck  was  in  China. 

Although  the  bombardment  was  condemned 
even  in  Parliament,  it  had  the  seasonable  effect  of 
bringing  the  Satsuma  men  to  their  senses.  In- 
deed, this  taste  of  foreign  fire  and  iron  was  a 
turning  point  in  the  history  of  this  most  warlike 
of  the  clans.  It  opened  the  eyes  of  brave  but 
narrow  minded  men,  who  had  been  educated 
under  a  ferocious  system  of  morals.  With  that 
respect  which  a  well  thrashed  bully  looks  upon 
the  man  that  has  administered  chastisement,  the 
Satsuma  men  thought  better  of  the  "hairy  for- 
eigners "  and  began  to  introduce  foreign  machin- 
ery and  appliances.  Soon  they  became,  what 
they  long  were  and  continue  to  be,  leaders  in  the 
material  part  of  civilization,  especially  in  matters 
of  war,  in  the  army  and  the  navy.  They  paid 
their  indemnity  in  cash.  In  modern  Japanese 
statecraft,  the  men  of  Choshiu  excel  in  civil,  and 
those  of  Satsuma  in  military,  affairs,  thus  making 
a  superb  combination. 

The  Choshiu  men  went  to  Kioto  and  attempted 
112 


Political   Upheaval 

to  carry  off  the  Mikado  and  were  foiled,  but 
Sanjo  and  six  othier  Kuge  or  court  nobles,  who 
wore  amazing  large  flowing  garments  and  black 
caps  that  looked  like  bricks  tilted  endwise  on 
their  heads,  went  back  to  Choshiu  with  the  clan. 
They  were  deprived  of  their  honors  and  titles. 
The  expulsion  of  foreigners  was  postponed,  even 
though  the  Shogun  visited  Kioto  a  second  time. 

After  the  failure  of  the  Choshiu  men  in  Kioto, 
October,  1863,  let  us  see  how  the  situation  ap- 
peared at  Nagasaki,  to  which  Mr.  Verbeck  had 
just  returned  from  China.  His  letter  is  dated 
November  14,  1863. 

**  In  my  letter  from  Shanghai,  I  stated  our  de- 
parture from  that  place.  After  a  long  but  pleas- 
ant trip  of  nine  days,  we  safely  reached  our 
desired  haven  in  Japan  (13  October).  I  cannot 
describe  our  joy  at  again  seeing  and  setting  foot 
on  this  fair  country.  All  things  around  looked 
very  much  as  when  we  left,  only  there  were  a 
few  new  batteries,  and  more  activity  around  and 
in  them.  Business  had  come  to  nearly  a  dead 
stop,  and  although  there  was  no  danger  for  the 
time  being,  yet  the  greatest  uncertainty  prevailed. 
On  the  whole,  however,  the  prospects  of  peace 
seemed  brighter;  and  at  all  events,  the  general 
opinion  was  and  is,  that  the  Japanese,  though  they 
are  acknowledged  to  have  fought  well,  have  had  a 
sufficient  trial  of  foreign  warfare  to  convince 
them  that  they  are  not  able  to  cope  equally  with 
foreigners.  They  also  have  learned  to  respect 
the  lives  of  foreigners,  since  they  see  that  they 

113 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

cannot  endanger  or  take  them  with  impugnity. 
The  delays  on  both  sides  in  these  troubles  I 
think,  have  been  rather  for  good,  as  it  has  given 
the  native  government  time  to  think  and  arrange 
its  own  internal  confusions.  The  ronins,  who 
were  the  perpetrators  of  all  the  murders  and  at- 
tacks at  Yedo,  and  who  at  various  times  caused 
a  good  deal  of  apprehension  here  also,  have 
nearly  all  been  seized,  and  many  of  them  put  to 
death.  The  Prince  of  Choshiu,  who  so  irregu- 
larly fired  on  ships  of  all  nations  at  Shimonoseki, 
is  to  be,  or  is  perhaps  by  this  time,  degraded  and 
punished.  And  the  Prince  of  Satsuma  is  said  to 
be  very  sorry  for  his  encounter  with  the  British 
forces  at  his  capital.  Yet  with  all  this,  we  have 
no  certainty  of  anything.  Nearly  everything  we 
hear  comes  in  such  different  forms,  with  such 
contradictory  variations  and  from  so  many  (often 
doubtful)  sources,  that  it  is  hard  to  get  at  the 
truth.  Much  is  supposition,  because  hoped  for. 
Political  news  you  must  look  for  from  Kanagawa, 
though  even  that  is  often  contradicted  by  later 
reports." 


114 


VII 

THE  DOORS  OPENING 

*'  Behold,  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door," 
seemed  to  be  the  Heavenly  Father's  message  to 
Guido  Verbeck  at  the  opening  of  the  year  1864, 
despite  the  turmoil  of  impending  civil  war. 

In  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  fortunes  of  the 
Bakufu,  it  looked  as  though  the  foreigners  and 
the  Yedo  government  had  triumphed,  for  the  for- 
eigner-haters and  fanatics  were  in  disgrace. 
Choshiu  became  the  rendezvous  of  ronins  and 
runaways  from  every  clan  in  the  empire.  A  body 
of  these  regular  and  irregular  clansmen  marched 
upon  Kioto,  with  the  idea  of  seizing  the  em- 
peror's person.  In  Japanese  politics,  whoever 
possesses  his  sacred  body  makes  the  government, 
while  those  who  resist  are  traitors.  A  terrible 
battle  took  place  in  Kioto.  After  fighting  and 
cannonading,  with  much  loss  of  life  and  awful 
destruction  of  property  in  the  war-fire,  the 
Choshiu  men  were  defeated  though  still  defiant. 

The  combined  squadrons  of  four  nations,  Great 
Britain,  France,  Holland,  and  the  United  States, 
gathered  at  Shimonoseki  in  September  to  chastise 
these  audacious  clansmen  who  attempted  to  fight, 
on  the  one  hand,  the  mighty  Tycoon  and  all  his 
host,  and  the  foreigners  with  their  fleets  on  the 

115 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

other.  We  shall  see  what  happened,  what  good 
medicine  of  chastisement  they  took,  and  how 
they  too,  like  Satsuma,  repented  and  turned  their 
faces  in  the  direction  of  progress.  Let  us  note 
how  Nagasaki  harbor  revealed  to  Mr,  Verbeck 
what  was  going  on.  To  him  Choshiu  seemed 
like  an  old  mediaeval  baron  "with  his  brigand 
band."    He  wrote  in  August: 

**  The  renewal  of  Choshiu  troubles,  and  the  ex- 
pedition now  fitting  out  for  Shimonoseki,  have 
brought  eight  native  steamers  and  a  large  number 
of  people  from  all  parts  of  the  empire  to  this 
port,  and  I  get  my  share  of  inquisitive  visitors. 
The  troubles  and  expedition  are  entirely  civil, 
not  foreign.  The  Prince  of  Choshiu,  after  ap- 
parently submitting  to  the  necessity  of  circum- 
stances for  a  time,  has  again  broken  through  the 
nets  and  seems  determined  to  stand  his  own 
ground.  An  ultimatum  has  been  sent  to  this  ob- 
streperous prince  by  the  Taikun,  and  the  general 
expectation  is  that  its  terms  will  be  refused  and 
war  ensue.  There  is  not  supposed  to  be  any 
danger  threatening  foreigners.  Surely,  war  is  a 
sad  thing  anywhere;  but  if  ever  good  is  to  be 
hoped  for  from  such  a  cause,  it  is  in  Japan,  I 
think.  These  people,  in  many  respects,  live  yet 
in  middle-age  darkness  and  institutions,  from 
which  it  may  be  doubted  whether  they  can 
emerge  without  at  least  one  hard,  it  may  be,  san- 
guinary struggle.     The  mighty  Lord  overrule. 

"There  is  an  extensive  inland  and  coast  trade 
carried   on    from  this  port,   which  continually 

116 


The  Doors  Opening 

brings  strangers  from  all  parts  of  Japan,  but  es- 
pecially from  this  inland  Kiushiu,  to  this  port. 
Thus  we  come  in  contact  daily  with  strangers 
as  well  as  residents.  The  great  majority  of  the 
people  who  come  to  see  us  in  our  house,  in 
quest  of  books  or  for  other  information,  are 
visitors  whom  trade  or  curiosity  brings  thither, 
so  that  our  influence,  especially  when  the  coun- 
try will  be  more  open,  but  even  now,  is  by  no 
means  limited  to  this  place  (of  about  80,000  in- 
habitants). That  our  names  and  characters  are 
thus  carried  much  farther  than  we  might  super- 
ficially expect,  was  shown  me  the  other  day  in 
rather  an  amusing  manner.  A  steamer  belong- 
ing to  the  Prince  of  Higo  came  into  port,  with  a 
brother  of  the  Prince  on  board,  and  stayed  about 
a  week.  I  did  not  know  that  either  Higo  steamer 
or  Prince  was  here,  when  two  days  before  their 
departure  a  Higo  man,  who  got  a  Chinese  New 
Testament  and  some  books  from  me  three  years 
ago,  came  to  see  me  and  told  that  a  high  officer 
of  his  Prince  wished  to  see  me.  When  this 
officer  came,  he  stated  that  he  wished  me  to  as- 
sist him  in  getting  a  steamer  for  his  master. 
These  people  were  strangers  in  this  town,  and 
when  it  was  known  that  they  came  to  purchase 
a  steamer,  they  were  so  beset  by  a  corrupt  set  of 
brokers  and  runners  (natives)  that  they  became 
as  it  were  bewildered,  not  knowing  whom  to 
trust.  In  this  extremity  they  applied  to  me. 
That  they  applied  to  me  may  also  partly  be 
owing  to  my  sometimes  having  assisted  native 

117 


/ 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

scholars  or  engineers  in  the  solution  of  difficult, 
at  least  for  them  difficult,  problems,  especially  in 
mechanics  or  engineering.  In  such  cases  the 
profession  of  my  younger  years,  that  of  civil  and 
mechanical  engineering,  proves  useful  even  after 
years.  In  the  present  instance,  however,  I  could 
give  these  gents  but  small  comfort,  as  of  course 
I  told  them  that  such  business  lay  quite  outside 
of  my  province,  that  I  could  do  no  business 
transactions  of  any  kind,  and  that  my  business 
was  to  teach  the  doctrine.  After  some  delibera- 
tion, I  agreed  so  far  with  them  that  I  would 
recommend  them  to  the  American  Consul,  Mr. 
Walsh,  who  no  doubt  would  gladly  undertake 
to  get  them  new  steamers  from  New  York. 
They  left  with  warm  expressions  of  thanks,  and 
I  was  glad  to  rid  myself  of  customers  of  this 
kind.  I  did  not  expect  perhaps  to  ever  see  them 
again,  because  they  must  have  been  disappointed 
that  their  last  refuge  proved  so  unavailable.  But 
the  next  day  a  still  higher  officer  called  with  this 
same  request;  yet,  though  he  was  one  of  the 
highest  officers  of  his  state,  a  karo  or  minister,  I 
could  but  give  him  the  same  answers.  They  left 
much  pleased  with  their  visit  on  the  whole,  nor 
have  I  seen  them  since.  The  gratifying  part  is 
the  manifestation  of  confidence  in  our  character. 
Where  one  ran  down  the  other,  to  whom  should 
they  go.?  To  a  missionary  of  the  gospel!  Oh, 
that  they  would  come  with  weightier  questions! 
But  they  will.  The  time  will  come,  when  we 
shall  welcome  them  and  say:  You  are  the  men 
118 


The  Doors  Opening 

we  have  been  waiting  for  these  years;  it  is  to 
you  we  were  sent.  Come  and  welcome.  Ask 
the  way  and  we  will  show  it  youl  And  then, 
may  they  go  away  comforted  instead  of  disap- 
pointed. May  the  Holy  Spirit  open  their  hearts 
and  Christ  give  them  peace." 

Before  unchaining  the  dogs  of  war,  the  olive 
branch  was  tendered.     Two  British  ships,  the 
Barrosa    and  the  Cormorant  with  two    young 
Japanese  natives  of  the  province  were  sent  to 
treat  with  the  daimio  of  Choshiu.     These  were 
two  out  of  the  five  young  men  who  in  1863  had 
escaped  the  vigilance  of  the  Tycoon's  officers  and 
had  been  sent  by  the  Prince  of  Choshiu  to  Eng- 
land to  be  educated.     Having  seen  the  power  of 
Europeans  at  home,   these  samurai  wished  to 
warn  their  master  of  the  folly  of  measuring  re- 
sources with  the  foreigners.     With  them  went 
two    young    Englishmen,    Messrs.    Enslie    and 
Satow  as  interpreters.     Yet  although  the  two 
young  men  were  landed  and  had  an  interview 
with  their  feudal  lord,  they  returned  to  the  ships 
with  no  written  answer  and  only  an  unsatis- 
factory verbal  reply  from  the  daimio.     This  was 
to  the  effect  that  he  was  acting  upon  orders  re- 
ceived from  both  the  Mikado  and  the  Tycoon. 
In  total  ignorance  as  to  the  value  of  time,  for 
the  Japanese  language  then  contained  no  word  in 
the  ordinary  vernacular,    for  either  minute  or 
second,  the  daimio  asked  for  three  months'  delay, 
promising  to  go  to  Kioto  and  get  the  Mikado,  if 
possible,  to  change  his  mind. 

119 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

At  the  present  writing  both  of  these  young 
Japanese  are  still  living,  one  being  the  Mar- 
quis Ito,  who  has  been  the  Mikado's  premier 
and  repeatedly  summoned  in  grave  crises  to  form 
a  cabinet,  and  who  is  probably  the  ablest  all- 
round  Japanese  statesman,  and  at  this  writing  in 
June,  1900,  called  for  the  fifth  time  to  the  premier- 
ship. The  other  is  Count  Inouye,  who  has  been 
also  for  many  years  one  of  the  purest  statesmen 
and  cabinet  ministers.  One  of  the  young  British 
interpreters  is,  and  has  been  for  many  years, 
the  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  Great  Britain  in 
Japan. 

The  Japanese  sick  man  had  now  to  take  his 
medicine  in  the  form  of  shot  and  shell.  On  the 
5th  of  September,  1864,  at  2  p.  m.,  the  combined 
squadrons  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Holland,  and 
the  United  States,  numbering  seventeen  vessels, 
in  three  divisions,  with  two  hundred  and  eight 
guns,  and  seven  thousand  five  hundred  and 
ninety  men,  began  the  bombardment.  The  bat- 
tle was  bravely  contested  on  both  sides  but  the 
superior  force  and  skill  of  the  foreigners  silenced 
the  batteries.  These  were  captured  and  de- 
stroyed by  landing  parties  and  the  guns  removed. 
On  her  sea  front  Choshiu  was  now  completely 
humbled. 

It  must  be  noted  that  in  the  previous  year,  1863, 
American  skill  and  valor  were  amply  vindicated 
by  an  act  which  ranks  among  the  most  brilliant 
in  the  long  and  glorious  history  of  the  United 
States  Navy.  On  the  i6th  of  July,  1863,  Captain 
120 


The  Doors  Opening 

David  McDougal,  then  in  command  of  the  United 
States  Steamship  Wyoming,  a  corvette  of  the 
same  rate  and  force  as  the  Kearsarge,  that  is, 
with  two  eleven-inch  pivot  guns  and  four  thirty- 
two-pounders,  being  then  in  pursuit  of  the  Con- 
federate man-of-war  Alabama,  entered  the  straits 
of  Shimonoseki.  Instead  of  passing  along 
through  the  channel,  which  was  duly  staked  out 
along  its  edges  for  the  benefit  of  the  Japanese 
gunners,  McDougal  daringly  ran  his  ship  in 
toward  the  shore,  and  under  the  fire  of  six  bat- 
teries, drove  the  Wyoming  between  two  armed 
steamers  flying  the  Choshiu  flag.  He  engaged 
these  and  the  six  batteries,  blowing  up  the 
steamer  and  sinking  the  brig  formerly  called  the 
Lanrick.  In  the  seventy  minutes'  fight,  the  cap- 
tain fired  fifty-five  rounds  and  had  five  men 
killed  and  six  wounded.  The  Wyoming  was 
hulled  eleven  times,  receiving  thirty  shots  in 
mast,  rigging,  and  smokestack.  The  ship 
grounded,  but  came  off  safely,  having  performed 
a  most  wonderful  exploit. 

In  1864,  the  only  national  ship  we  had  on  the 
Japan  station  was  the  old  sailing  vessel  James- 
town. The  American  minister,  Robert  H.  Pruyn, 
chartered  the  steamer  Ta  Kiang,  and  Captain 
Price  detached  Lieutenant  Pearson,  with  a  party 
of  thirty  marines  and  sailors,  with  one  Parrott 
gun,  which  was  served  most  handsomely  by  the 
squad.  After  the  battle.  Lieutenant  Pearson, 
having  the  swiftest  ship,  conveyed  the  wounded 
quickly  to  Yokohama. 

121 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

All  testimony  since  the  events  at  Shimonoseki 
in  1863  and  1864,  and  it  has  been  sufficiently 
abundant,  was  to  the  effect  that  the  chastisement 
was  most  wholesome.  The  Choshiu  men  then 
and  there  resolved  not  to  oppose  the  foreigners, 
but  rather  to  learn  the  full  secrets  of  their  power 
and  make  friends  with  them  for  the  good  of  the 
nation. 

It  was  very  evident,  also,  that,  apart  from  po- 
litical reasons,  the  jealousy  of  the  great  daimios 
of  the  Tycoon's  monopoly  of  foreign  trade  and 
their  desire  to  share  its  fertilizing  streams  which 
have  so  enriched  and  transformed  Japan,  were 
potent  causes  of  both  the  imminent  and  the  actual 
hostilities.  During  the  negotiations,  it  transpired 
that  Choshiu  desired  to  open  Shimonoseki  as  a 
port  of  commerce.  The  foreign  ministers  would 
gladly  have  remitted  indemnity  if  new  ports  had 
been  opened,  but  the  Yedo  government  preferred 
to  borrow  in  London  at  ten  per  cent,  and  to  pay 
down  the  money,  rather  than  open  new  ports. 
So  the  indemnity  of  $3,000,000  was  ultimately 
paid,  in  the  main,  by  the  Mikado's  government 
in  Tokio.  The  share  of  the  United  States  amount- 
ing to  $750,000  was,  after  some  years'  delay  and 
discussion,^  by  order  of  Congress,  returned  to 
Japan,  and  there  used  for  educational  purposes. 

During  all  this  time,  in  a  strange  land,  where 

» See  pp.  593-595  of  the  first  edition  of  "  The  Mikado's  Em- 
pire," 1876.     For  several  years  the  author  sent  copies  of  these 
pages  stating  the  facts,  historical  and  financial,  to  every  member 
of  Congress,  until  the  money  was  paid  back  to  Japan. 
122 


/^ 


'    ¥. 


:^^  / 


,.«.«»*«*%\ 


,l»^-vX-4^-^fc 


The  Doors  Opening 

there  were  no  newspapers  or  telegraph,  the  lone 
missionary  at  Nagasaki,  like  a  sentinel  on  a  distant 
picket  line,  could  learn  what  was  going  on  in 
the  country  only  by  fitful  reports,  through 
rumors  and  exaggerations  often  told  one  day 
and  contradicted  the  next,  the  wish  being  usually 
the  father  of  the  thought.  Like  the  trailing 
shadows  of  moving  clouds,  his  letters  reflect 
his  own  moods  and  the  thoughts  of  himself  and 
those  around  him.  This  year  was  rich  in  oppor- 
tunities and  in  opening  doors  of  usefulness,  as 
we  shall  see  by  quotations  from  his  correspond- 
ence. He  was  even  invited  to  come  to  other 
provinces  and  teach.  All  Japan  seemed  to  be  in 
a  ferment.  A  newborn  hunger  for  knowledge 
had  seized  many. 

The  first  teaching  of  young  men  outside  of  his 
own  house,  by  Mr.  Verbeck,  was  in  a  school 
which  the  governor  of  Nagasaki  established  for 
the  training  of  interpreters.  On  coming  back 
from  China,  Mr.  Verbeck  found  that  the  two 
young  men  to  whom  in  i860  he  had  taught  some 
English,  had  been  twice  promoted.  The  happy 
students  to  show  their  gratitude  to  their  precep- 
tor presented  Mr.  Verbeck  with  two  black  suck- 
ing pigs.  Their  idea  was  that  foreigners  were 
especially  fond  of  pork.  The  governor  of  Naga- 
saki was  so  pleased  with  the  attainments  of  the 
young  men  that,  on  going  to  Yedo,  he  proposed 
to  the  Shogun's  government  that  a  school  of 
foreign  languages  and  science  be  founded  and 
that  Mr.  Verbeck  be  rrade  the  principal. 
183 


\ 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

In  due  time  the  official  application  was  made 
through  the  United  States  Consul,  and  Mr.  Ver- 
beck accepted,  to  be  head  of  the  school  at  Naga- 
saki, agreeing  at  first  to  teach  two  hours  a  day 
for  five  days  in  the  week.  The  salary  was 
$1,200  a  year.  Happily  for  the  good  of  Japan 
and  the  furtherance  of  true  Christianity,  the 
Board  of  Missions  in  New  York  gave  its  hearty 
assent  to  this  opportunity  of  influencing  for  good 
the  promising  young  men  of  Japan.  From  this 
time  forth,  until  1878,  Mr.  Verbeck  was  a  self- 
supporting  missionary. 

A  schoolhouse  was  built  and  was  soon  filled 
to  overflowing,  with  over  one  hundred  pupils, 
Mr.  Verbeck  taking  only  the  advanced  classes. 
By  June  loth,  1866,  the  two  nephews  of  Yokoi 
Heishiro,  *'Ise"  and  '^Numagawa,"  were  started 
to  America,  the  first  of  a  host,  and  the  beginning 
of  a  procession  of  five  hundred  or  more,  who, 
with  Mr.  Verbeck's  introduction,  were  helped  in 
various  ways,  when  in  America,  by  the  Reformed 
Church  and  Mission  Board. 

The  samurai  not  only  from  Hizen  and  the 
southwestern  provinces,  but  from  many  parts  of 
the  empire,  including  two  sons  of  the  court  noble 
Iwakura,  who  afterward  became  Prime  Minister  of 
the  empire,  flocked  to  Nagasaki  to  get  under  the 
care  of  a  man  whose  name  was  already  magnetic, 
potent,  and  to  some  apparently  magical.  Indeed 
the  long  sealed  doors  seemed  now  opening  on 
every  side. 

The  two  great  documents,  expressed  in  English, 

124 


The  Doors  Opening 

which  Mr.  Verbeck  taught  most  and  longest  to 
the  most  promising  of  his  pupils,  including  such 
future    members    of    the   emperor's   cabinet  as 
Soyeshima  and  Okuma,   were  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Here  at  the  feet  of  this  modern  Gamaliel  sat  by  ■ 
the  score  other  young  men  also,  who  in  the 
Meiji  period  (from   1868  until  the  present  day) 
have  directed  the  destinies  of  Japan.     Mr.  Ver- 
beck's    pupils    have    become    the  new  sort  of  j 
orientals,  in  a  new  kind  of  Asian  state  that  has  | 
voluntarily  placed  itself  under  the  leading  of  the  f 
two  great  Anglo-Saxon  nations. 

Yet  even  more  joy  was  given  to  Mr.  Verbeck  by 
hearing  that  his  as  yet  unseen  friend  and  pupil, 
♦'  Wakasa,"  had  resigned  his  office  and,  now  free 
from  the  cares  of  state,  proposed  to  visit  his 
teacher  and  in  native  phrase  * '  hang  on  his  eyelids." 

When  Mr.  Verbeck  returned  from  China  he 
found  that  Ayabe  had  moved  from  Nagasaki  to 
accept  a  government  appointment.  It  seemed 
then,  at  first,  as  though  all  his  prayers  and  labor 
had  been  in  vain,  but  soon  after  Mr.  Verbeck 
was  made  happy  by  the  advent  of  Motono.  He 
came  as  the  messenger  from  Murata,  to  get 
explanations  of  difficult  portions  of  Scripture 
which  could  not  be  understood  without  a 
teacher,  and  also  to  secure  other  Christian  lit- 
erature. For  nearly  three  years  Motono  vibrated 
like  a  pendulum,  making  the  two  days'  journey, 
between  Nagasaki  and  Saga.  Now,  teacher  and 
pupil  were  to  meet. 

125 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

On  the  14th  of  May,  1866,  to  the  joy  and  sur- 
prise of  Mr.  Verbeck,  Murata  appeared,  with  his 
brother  Ayabe,  Motono,  his  two  sons  and  a  train 
of  followers.  He  was  tall  and  dignified,  a  gentle- 
man of  frank,  ingenious  mien,  and  about  fifty 
years  old.  After  his  greeting,  which  was  in  the 
impressive  manner  of  ancient  Japanese  courtesy, 
he  said  to  Mr.  Verbeck: 

"I  have  long  known  you  in  my  mind,  and 
desired  to  converse  with  you,  and  I  am  very 
happy  that,  in  God's  providence,  I  am  at  last 
permitted  this  privilege." 

In  the  course  of  their  conversation,  this  seeker 
^  rafter  God  said : 
f^-'"\  "Sir,  I  cannot  tell  you  my  feelings  when  for 
the  first  time  I  read  the  account  of  the  character 
and  work  of  Jesus  Christ.  I  had  never  seen,  or 
heard,  or  imagined  such  a  person.  I  was  filled 
with  admiration,  overwhelmed  with  emotion,  and 
taken  captive  by  the  record  of  His  nature  and 
life." 

Murata  showed  great  familiarity  with  the 
Bible,  quoting  from  it  with  ease  and  point.  He 
was  ready  to  believe  all  that  Jesus  taught  and  to 
do  whatever  He  required.  The  conversation 
lengthened  into  hours.  Then  Murata  asked  bap- 
tism for  himself  and  Ayabe.  The  missionary 
warned  them  that  there  was  no  magic  in  baptism. 
All  superstitious  notions  they  might  have  as  to  its 
efficacy  must  be  laid  aside.  Those  who  received 
the  rite  assumed  sacred  obligations  of  service. 
Explaining  the  form  of  baptism  as  used  in  the 

126 


The  Doors  Opening 

Reformed  Church,  they  were  asked  to  decide  as 
in  the  presence  of  God.  Without  faltering  they 
renewed  their  request,  only  asking  that  the  act 
should  not  be  made  public.  They  knew  too  well 
that  not  only  would  their  own  lives  be  in  danger, 
but  that  their  families  would  have  to  die  with 
them.  Death  by  crucifixion  on  the  bamboo  cross 
for  a  commoner,  hara-kiri  for  a  samurai  was  the 
punishment. 

In  full  confession  of  sin,  with  vital  faith  in 
Jesus  as  the  Christ  of  God,  loyally  desiring  One 
whom  they  had  long  before  acknowledged  as 
Master,  they  took  the  step.  On  the  next  Sun- 
day, the  evening  of  May  20th,  the  three  men, 
Murata,  Ayabe,  and  Motono,  were  baptized  in 
Mr.^  Verbeck's  parlor.  Then,  joyfully  they 
obeyed  the  further  command  of  Jesus,  "this 
do  in  remembrance  of  Me."  After  the  sacra- 
mental meal  Murata  told  the  story  of  the  Moses 
of  his  deliverance, — the  book  ''drawn  out"  of 
the  water  twelve  years  before.  Then  the  three 
men  went  away  happy. 

Mr.  Verbeck  wrote  out  an  account  of  this  his 
first  baptism  of  Christian  converts,  but  no  publi- 
cation was  made  of  the  fact  at  home,  and  for  a 
long  time  there  were  but  few  persons  who  knew 
it.  At  Saga,  Murata  reported  the  fact  to  his 
feudal  lord,  who  knowing  the  character  of  the 
converts  made  no  further  inquisition.  One  of 
Japan's  Christian  samurai  wrote  in  1863: 

"The  Imperial  Government  on  hearing  of  Wa- 
kasa's    conversion    commanded    the    prince    to 

127 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

punish  him.  The  only  semblance  of  obedience 
to  this  order  was,  to  burn  some  of  the  subject's 
books. 

"Murata  Wakasa  no  Kami's  last  years  were 
spent  calmly,  he  having  retired  to  a  villa  in 
Kubota,  where  in  rural  quietude,  surrounded  by 
the  most  beautiful  scenery,  he  lived  in  the  sweet 
embrace  of  nature.  It  is  said  that  in  those  days 
he  was  engaged  in  translating  the  Bible  from 
Chinese  into  Japanese.  At  the  end,  he,  praying 
for  the  future  victory  of  Christianity  in  Japan, 
smilingly  left  this  world  in  1874,  being  sixty  years 
old." 

"  His  memory  is  deeply  cherished  by  Christians 
still  living,  who  in  earlier  days,  felt  the  power  of 
his  earnest  personality.  In  his  own  family  tree 
there  are  good  and  fruitful  branches  that  are 
green  and  flourishing  in  Jesus  Christ." 

Space  does  not  allow  of  our  telling  the  story 
of  Mr.  Verbeck's  visit  to  Saga  in  1868  and  of  his 
royal  entertainment  by  the  daimio,  or  of  his  own 
impressions  and  pleasures.  Nevertheless,  his 
wonder  grew  to  inquire  why,  with  all  the  charms 
of  the  Japanese  character,  the  nobility  of  human- 
ity seemed  an  idea  unknown  in  Old  Japan.  In 
the  public  bath-houses,  so  carefully  graded  ac- 
cording to  classes,  one  pool  was  for  "beggars 
and  horses,"  while  the  common  numeral  term 
for  laborers  was  the  same  as  that  for  animals. 
Etiquette  seemed  to  be  the  sufficient  substitute 
for  both  religion  and  virtue. 

Along  with  some  relics  of  Roman  Christianity 

128 


The  Doors  Opening 

recovered  in  Kiushiu  and  sent  home  as  curiosi- 
ties, Mr.  Verbeck,  having  photography  to  help 
him,  enclosed  some  ''living"  documents. 

He  wrote:  "  Herewith  inclosed  you  will  please 
find  a  picture  of  a  crucifix,  and  one  of  Christ 
with  the  crown  of  thorns.  They  are  exact  copies 
of  the  two  pieces  that  for  about  two  hundred 
years  have  been  used  in  the  annual  '  Ceremony 
of  trampling  on  the  Cross '  in  the  vicinity  of  this 
place.  It  will  be  something  to  show  in  addresses 
on  missions,  etc.  The  ceremony  is  mentioned  in 
nearly  every  book  on  Japan,  as  you  know;  but  I 
think  writers  on  Japan  have  much  mistaken  the 
object  of  the  shameful  wicked  act.  It  was  not 
so  much,  if  at  all,  to  abuse  and  disgrace  the 
Saviour,  as  to  find  out  who  were  Christians  and 
who  not.  It  was  known  that  no  good  Christian 
would  trample  on  the  image  of  Christ;  therefore, 
at  the  annual  census  of  the  people,  these  images 
were  produced  to  discover  secret  Christians. 
This  ceremony  was  discontinued  a  few  years 
ago.  If  you  paste  the  pictures  on  a  card,  they 
will  last  better.  By  this  mail  too  I  send  you  a 
larger  photograph  of  the  elder  of  the  converts. 
He  sits  between  his  two  sons,  in  front.  Those 
standing  around  are  some  of  his  vassal  servants 
that  accompanied  him  to  this  place.  His  name  is 
Kubota  Wakasa.^  Will  you  kindly  forward  the 
photos  as  directed  on  the  back  ?  When  do  you 
send  me  a  colleague  ?    There  is  room  for  more 

^  Murata,  Wakasa  no  Kami,  lived  at  this  time  at  Kubota,  in 
Hizen. 

129 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

than  one.  An  experienced  young  minister  who 
has  had  charge  of  a  congregation  at  home  and 
knows  active  service  would  be  desirable." 

Unable  as  yet  to  preach  Christ  openly,  the 
young  missionary  being  in  the  spirit  of  willing 
service,  was  alert  to  do  all  and  whatever  work 
came  to  hand,  in  and  out  of  season,  and  too 
often  in  time  that  ought  to  have  been  given  to 
recreation.  Young  men  came  to  him  asking  him 
to  teach  them  Dutch  or  English  and  this  he  at 
once  began  to  do,  little  thinking  at  the  time  per- 
haps that  he  should  in  later  years,  at  the  head  of 
the  Imperial  University,  direct  the  course  of  the 
streams  that  are  still  fertilizing  the  national  intel- 
lect. He  may  not  then  have  foreseen  that  he 
should  lay  the  foundations  and  plan  out  in  detail 
a  national  educational  system  for  the  empire. 

In  1898,  a  Japanese  scholar,  Rev.  G.  Ogimi 
wrote  what  he  knew  to  be  the  facts  told  him  by 
many  witnesses  among  his  own  countrymen: 

"After  the  Doctor  (Verbeck)  came  over  to 
Japan,  in  a  short  time  young  men  who  were 
somewhat  acquainted  with  foreign  civilization 
came  from  various  provinces,  one  by  one  to 
Nagasaki,  and  desired,  in  the  use  of  English  or 
Dutch,  to  investigate  the  sciences  and  arts. 
Since,  with  the  exception  of  medicine,  none  of 
the  sciences  and  arts  could  be  learned  from  any 
one  but  the  doctor,  they  received  his  instruction, 
bringing  to  him  such  books  as  they  had,  even 
books  on  astronomy,  navigation,  mathematics, 
surveying,  physics,  chemistry,  and  fortifications! 

130 


Wakasa,   His  Two  Sons  and  Retainers,   iS66. 


First  Science  Class,   Imperial  University,   1S74. 


The  Doors  Opening 

Just  to  learn  English,  they  bought  such  as  these, 
and,  using  them  as  text-books,  formed  classes. 
Men  like  Mr.  Kantaro  Yanagiya,  chief  of  the 
patent  office,  studied  fortifications  with  the 
doctor,  so  he  said  himself." 
On  September  7th,  1867,  Mr.  Verbeck  wrote: 
"  Last  month  the  Prince  of  Kaga  placed  a  fine 
steamer  at  my  disposition  to  visit  his  country. 
He  is  the  wealthiest  of  the  Japanese  princes,  and 
wishes  me  to  come  to  his  state  to  establish  a 
school  similar  to  the  one  at  this  place.  I  have 
invitations  more  or  less  direct  to  the  same  effect 
from  the  puissant  Prince  of  Satsuma,  the  Prince 
of  Tosa  of  the  island  of  Shikoku,  and  the  Prince 
of  Hizen  of  Kiushiu.  These  four  are  among  the 
foremost  princes  of  Japan,  all  wishing  to  go  for- 
ward on  foreign  principles.  Wish  it  were  on 
Christian.  During  the  last  twenty-four  months, 
I  have  had  visits  from  relations  of  three  power- 
ful princes  and  of  two  Imperial  governors. 
Without  boasting,  I  can  say  that  the  name  of 
your  missionary  stands  high.  I  am  sorry  only 
that  a  lone  missionary  is  almost  under  the  neces- 
sity, in  speaking  of  these  and  some  other  things, 
to  offend  against  Prov.  xxvii.  2,  and  hope  and 
pray  that  our  Master  in  time  will  grant  us  some- 
thing better  than  mere  name  and  fame." 

A  careful  study  of  his  environment  had  pre- 
pared Guido  Verbeck  to  make  the  right  choice  as 
to  the  location  and  continuance  of  his  educa- 
tional labors.  We  can  see  also  how  all  his  previ- 
ous training,  of  head,  of  heart,  of  mind,  and 

131 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

hand  came  to  be  valuable  and  useful.  In  the 
modern  world,  the  engineer  and  the  lin- 
guist make  superb  combination  for  largest  use- 
fulness. 

After  the  official  changes  wrought  by  the  Rev- 
olution of  1868,  at  which  we  shall  glance  in  the 
next  chapter,  by  which  Nagasaki  became  an  im- 
perial city,  the  government  school  came  under 
the  auspices  of  the  daimio  of  Hizen.  Or,  rather 
the  two  schools  continued  side  by  side,  Mr.  Ver- 
beck teaching  on  alternate  days  in  each  one.  A 
still  more  influential  class  of  students  now  began 
to  come  under  Mr.  Verbeck's  care.  He  had  the 
immense  advantage  of  having  friends  in  both  the 
old  and  the  new  government,  so  that  the  trans- 
fer of  ownership  and  sovereignty  was  made 
without  the  loss  of  a  day. 

The  photograph  of  the  teacher  and  his  classes, 
which  he  sent  home,  forms  an  illustrative  docu- 
ment of  the  highest  value  to  the  historian  of 
Japan.  In  this  group  of  young  men  we  can  recog- 
nize many  who  afterward  became  powerfully 
influential  in  various  government  offices  as  heads 
of  departments,  as  cabinet  ministers,  as  diploma- 
tists abroad,  and  even  in  the  premiership  of  the 
empire.  Among  a  few,  whom  the  biographer, 
without  assistance  from  book  or  person,  can 
recall  from  memory  or  recognize  in  the  picture,  is 
Prince  Iwakura  and  his  brother;  Count  Okuma, 
whose  potency  in  the  new  national  life  of  Japan 
during  forty  years  has  been  recognized  as  head  of 
the  treasury  and  the  foreign  department,  and  as 

132 


The  Doors  Opening 

founder  of  a  college  of  literature,  and  whom,vv^ith 
Soyeshima,  the  Mikado's  envoy  to  China  in  1874 
and  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  Mr.  Verbeck  es- 
pecially instructed  in  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States,  besides  making  them  familiar  with 
the  fundamental  laws  of  most  of  the  western  na- 
tions; Kentaro  Yanagiya,  the  chief  of  the  Patent 
Office,  besides  many  others  who  were  members 
of  the  great  embassy  in  1874  to  the  nations  of 
Christendom. 

Most  of  the  pupils  of  Mr.  Verbeck,  proved  true 
and  faithful  to  him,  showing  in  the  Japanese 
character  a  capacity  for  "  friendship  the  master 
passion,"  but  one  vile  exception  was  shown  in 
the  author  of  a  virulent  and  lying  anti-Christian 
pamphlet  which  was  published  inYedoini867 
and  greatly  disturbed  the  object  of  the  slander. 
It  was  proved  by  Mr.  Verbeck  that  the  author 
had  been  one  of  his  own  pupils,  to  whom  he  had 
given  many  hours  of  unrewarded  toil. 

It  happened  in  1863,  that  Mrs.  Verbeck,  for  her 
own  health  and  that  of  the  children,  went  to 
China  for  a  short  respite.  During  this  time,  it 
was  uncertain  whether  or  not  all  foreigners 
would  have  to  leave  Nagasaki,  or  the  place  be 
occupied  by  English  and  French  troops.  Her 
absence  was  made  the  ground  of  the  most  out- 
rageous and  scurrilous  charges,  and  the  idea  of 
Christian  doctrine  held  by  the  anonymous  writer 
was  one  which  only  a  very  sensually-minded 
Buddhist  priest  could  conjure  up  or  entertain. 
The  pamphlet  was  translated  by  Mr.  E.  M.  Satow 

133  J 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

now  the  British  Minister  in  Tokio.  Mr.  Verbeck 
wrote  July  i6th,  1868: 

*'  The  internal  evidence  makes  it  pretty  certain 
that  it  is  written  by  a  priest.  And  there  is  no 
priest  in  Japan  who  knows  the  things,  such  as 
names,  numbers,  etc.,  mentioned  in  the  pam- 
phlet, but  the  said  priests,  who  possess  volumes 
of  notes  taken  in  my  study.  I  wonder  he  did  not 
put  in  the  names  of  all  my  children,  with  the  age 
of  each  and  further  particulars,  for  the  old  fellow 
evidently  knows  the  rogues'  principle  that  a  few 
undoubted  truths,  especially  truths  of  detail, 
will  give  the  color  of  truth  to  a  large  number  of 
lies  strung  on  them.  In  reading  it  over  for  the 
first  time,  I  was  struck  at  once  with  many  things 
that  had  been  the  subjects  of  conversation  be- 
tween the  old  man  and  myself. 

**  In  my  own  mind  there  is  not  a  doubt  about  it, 
yet  as  two  of  the  old  man's  pupils  still  continue 
coming  to  me  three  times  a  week,  I  shall  put 
them  to  the  test  on  the  first  opportunity,  and  I 
expect  that,  although  they  are  not  likely  to  show 
their  true  feathers,  I  shall  be  able  to  elicit  suffi- 
cient proof  to  settle  the  matter  definitely.  I  shall 
however  do  nothing  rashly,  and  give  them  a  fair 
chance  to  defend  themselves  or  prove  themselves 
innocent  if  they  can.  They  are  certainly  a 
strange  set  of  men,  if  my  suspicions  are  founded  ; 
for  they  have  bought  whole  boxes  of  Chinese 
Bibles  and  Christian  books  and  tracts,  in  fact, 
hundreds  of  volumes,  and  all,  as  they  said,  for 
the  purpose  of  teaching  their  scholars.      These 

134 


The  Doors  Opening 

books,  perhaps  got  for  bad  purposes  only,  may 
yet  turn  out  a  blessing  to  many,  and  under  the 
divine  blessing,  quite  contrary  to  the  wicked  in- 
tention. For  any  one  comparing  the  pamphlet 
with  the  original  sources  of  all  Christian  knowl- 
edge must  see  what  a  bold  and  wicked  perversion 
of  the  truth  has  been  practiced. 

"As  to  the  contents  of  the  pamphlet,  many 
things  about  the  Roman  Catholics  are  sadly  true 
enough,  and  the  account  of  the  Urakami  perse- 
cution is  correct  in  the  main  facts.  But  I  am  sure 
that  what  is  said  about  '  conventicles  '  is  nothing 
but  a  most  wicked  invention.  They  may  have 
had  night  worship,  but  nothing  licentious.  That 
the  native  so-called  Christians  (they  are  so  only  in 
name)  should  have  resisted  by  main  force,  is  a 
great  injury  to  the  Christian  cause  in  Japan  gen- 
erally, and  quite  inexcusable.  That  these  people 
were  finally  released  from  prison  was  not  for  the 
reason  stated  in  the  pamphlet,  but  entirely  at  the 
pressing  instance  of  the  French  Minister  at  Yedo. 
This  the  author  took  good  care  not  to  mention. 

**  As  to  my  wife's  going  to  China,  as  I  wrote 
you  at  the  time,  the  object  was  a  change  of  air,  a 
recruiting  of  physical  health,  not  of  missionary 
forces,  and  of  weaning  a  baby  that  had  been  at 
the  breast  too  long.  Other  ladies  in  the  East,  or 
most  of  them,  have  their  babies  attended  and 
brought  up  by  wet  nurses.  My  wife  nurses  them 
herself  and  none  less  than  ten  or  twelve  months. 
And  this  wicked  fellow  must  try  to  give  a  most 
natural  event  the  looks  of  a  violation  of  what  he 

136 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

calls  'the  social  relations'  or  'the  five  virtues.' 
y  But  what  hurts  me  most  is  the  blasphemous  ac- 
count he  gives  of  the  Saviour.  I  cannot  imagine 
how  he  invents  the  foul  stuff,  unless  it  be  at  the 
instigation  of  the  Father  of  lies  himself.  Shall  I 
issue  a  crushing  reply,  or  had  I  better  keep  silence  ? 
I  shall  let  you  know  by  next  mail." 

On  reflection,  Mr.  Verbeck  preferred  golden 
silence  to  silver  speech  or  iron  ink.  Disliking 
controversy,  able  to  be  silent  in  several  languages 
and  always  anxious  to  present  the  positive  side 
of  truth,  he  kept  on  the  even  tenor  of  his  way  in 
teaching  and  satisfying  inquirers.  Indeed,  Mr. 
Verbeck  very  rarely,  if  ever,  entered  upon  argu- 
ment with  contumacious  men  of  inferior  mind 
S-  or  character. 

Yet  here  again,  comes  out  clearly  the  radical 
difference  in  the  type  of  Northern,  or  Germanic, 
as  compared  with  Roman,  or  Slavonic  Christian- 
ity, both  at  home  and  in  missionary  aim  and 
work.  The  prime  object  of  the  latter  is  to  make 
churchmen.  There  is,  too  often,  an  oceanic  dif- 
ference between  a  churchman  and  a  Christ-man. 
The  former  conforms  to  the  corporation.  The 
latter  seeks  his  life  out  of  himself  in  God.  Re- 
formed Christianity  touches  and  re-creates  art, 
literature,  philosophy,  and  ideals  individual,  so- 
cial, and  national.  It  rebuilds  anew  in  Christ 
Jesus.  None  knew  and  felt  this  more  than  Guido 
Verbeck.     He  wrote: 

"What  the  author  says  about  Protestants  has 
reference  to  me  only,   for  he  never  met  any 

136 


The  Doors  Opening 

others;  and  that  he  considers  me  more  dangerous 
or  injurious  to  the  country  than  a  large  number 
of  Roman  Catholic  priests  with  a  host  of  nomi- 
nal converts,  rather  flatters  me  than  otherwise. 
The  fact  is,  the  priests  see  that  I  begin  to  get  a 
stand  with  the  higher  and  ruling  classes  of  so- 
ciety, with  whom  themselves  have  no  show  at 
all,  and  by  whom  they  are  looked  down  upon. 
It  is  an  indirect  concession  on  the  part  of  an  in- 
telligent native  to  the  fact  that  my  way  of  pro- 
ceeding is  more  likely  to  tell  in  the  end  than  the 
rash  course  [/.  e.,  political  opposition  and  interfer- 
ence] the  Roman  Catholics  have  chosen  to  follow. 

"As  an  offset  to  the  above,  I  have  quite  lately 
had  another  case  of  also  a  priest  who  had  actually 
given  up  his  priestly  office,  emoluments,  and 
duties  with  the  set  purpose  henceforth  to  serve 
the  Lord.  He  has  already  felt  the  hand  of  per- 
secution on  this  account  and  yesterday  left  me  to 
go  and  live  a  while  with  a  friend  in  a  retired 
island." 

In  retrospect  of  the  nine  years'  residence  at 
Nagasaki,  and  especially  during  the  turmoils  of 
1868,  he  wrote: 

"We  have  not  however  escaped  without  se- 
rious and  well  grounded  fears  for  our  safety. 
We  have  been  threatened  with  fires,  attacks  from 
the  notorious  "loonins"  [ronins]  or  professional 
bravos,  and  even  expulsion  from  the  country. 
When  I  say  we,  I  mean  foreigners  generally.  As 
to  ourselves,  except  in  a  general  outbreak,  I  did 
not  fear  any  personal  violence,  as  I  had  numerous 

137 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

good  friends  on  both  sides  of  the  question,  and 
as  our  pacific  character  and  calling  are  too  well 
understood  by  all.  But  not  a  few  of  the  foreign- 
ers, as  I  afterwards  heard,  had  their  valuables 
packed  ready  for  shipment.  All  I  did  at  the 
critical  time  was  to  reload  an  old  revolver,  so  as 
to  be  ready  for  common  thieves  or  robbers,  who 
might  avail  themselves  of  the  general  confusion 
to  try  their  wicked  chance  and  who  would  prob- 
ably be  frightened  off  by  the  mere  report  of  fire- 
arms; but  especially  did  I  commend  ourselves  to 
Him  who  is  mightier  than  any  that  might  be 
against  us.  By  the  mercy  of  God,  we  are  now 
through  the  worst  and  there  is  not  even  the 
probability  of  personal  danger.  From  a  Tycoonal 
town  we  have  become  an  imperial  city.  Our 
new  governor  is  daily  expected  from  Miyako, 
[Kioto]  the  imperial  capital,  and  on  account  of 
my  position  of  teacher  at  the  Government 
School,  which  goes  on  as  heretofore,  I  hope  to 
meet  him.  On  the  whole  we  hope  that  all  these 
great  changes  in  the  empire  will  lead  to  more 
liberal  views  on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  es- 
pecially in  regard  to  our  religion.  On  the  face  of 
the  thing,  however,  this  is  not  at  all  self-evident; 
for  these  very  emperors  claim,  or  at  least  are 
from  old  held  to  be  descendants  of  the  gods  and 
the  supreme  pontiffs  of  the  empire.  But  I  think 
we  may  reasonably  hope  that  Japan  is  ready  to 
give  up  such  nonsense  as  antiquated,  and  show 
itself  willing  to  receive  a  more  reasonable,  the 
most  reasonable  faith." 

138 


The  Doors  Opening 

"During  the  years  immediately  preceding  the 
restoration  of  the  Imperial  power,"  writes  a  vet- 
eran missionary,  "  Dr.  Verbeck  received  numer- 
ous visits  from  the  clansmen  of  Satsuma,  Choshiu, 
Tosa  and  other  provinces,  who  were  then  con- 
tinually travelling  back  and  forth  via  Nagasaki, 
engaged  in  discussing  with  each  other  what  was 
eventually  realized  in  1868.  Among  these 
visitors,  most  of  whom  had  never  before  met  a 
foreigner,  may  be  mentioned  such  men  as  Ko- 
matsii,  the  elder  and  younger  Saigo,  Soyeshima, 
and  many  others  who  distinguished  themselves 
in  those  critical  times." 

At  home  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch 
Church  had  by  vote  of  the  General  Synod 
dropped  the  term  "Dutch,"  and  adopted  as  its 
name  style  and  title,  that  of  "The  Reformed 
Church  in  America."  Concerning  this  act,  "the 
Americanized  Dutchman"  in  Japan  wrote: 

"1  suppose  as  missionaries,  we  are  supposed 
to  keep  quite  clear  of  anything  approaching 
party  politics ;  but  where  there  is  so  much  una- 
nimity as  in  our  late  *  change  of  name,'  I  dare 
say  we  may  express  our  opinion  without  com- 
promising our  character  for  impartiality.  I,  for 
one,  hail  the  change  as  a  good  thing  on  mission 
ground.  The  name  of  a  foreign  nation  in  the 
very  body  of  the  name  of  a  denomination  cannot 
but  do  harm  in  a  country  to  the  church  that 
bears  it,  and  I  only  wonder  that  the  foreign  name 
has  been  so  long  retained  by  our  Reformed 
Church." 

139 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Verbeck  had  the  historic  and  true  progressive 
conservative  spirit.  The  ancient  name  of  the 
church,  since  it  had  reformed  its  Hfe,  doctrine, 
morals,  and  government,  by  purging  out  the 
accretions  from  Rome,  had  been  The  Reformed 
Church  in  the  Netherlands,  and  its  name  was  but 
a  "return,"  in  spirit  and  fact,  and  not  a  depar- 
ture from  New  Testament  principles. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  "the  history  of  the 
Reformed  Church  Mission  in  Nagasaki  for  the 
first  ten  years  is  entirely  that  connected  with  the 
personal  experiences  of  the  founder"  who, 
many  years  afterwards,  wrote  as  follows : 

"  We  found  the  natives  not  at  all  accessible 
touching  religious  matters.  When  such  a  sub- 
ject was  mooted  in  the  presence  of  a  native,  his 
hand  would  almost  involuntarily  be  applied 
edgewise  to  his  throat,  to  indicate  the  extreme 
perilousness  of  such  a  discussion.  If,  on  such 
an  occasion,  more  than  one  native  happened  to 
be  present,  the  natural  shyness  was,  if  possible, 
still  more  apparent,  for  there  was  little  confidence 
between  man  and  man,  chiefly  on  account  of  the 
abominable  secret  spy  system,  which  we  found 
in  full  swing  when  we  first  arrived  and  for 
several  years  after.  It  was  evident  that  before 
we  could  hope  to  accomplish  anything  in  our 
appropriate  work  two  things  were  essential;  we 
had  to  gain  the  general  confidence  of  the  people 
and  we  had  to  master  the  native  tongue. 

"  As  to  the  first,  by  the  most  knowing  and  sus- 
picious, we  were  regarded  as  people  that  had 

140 


The  Doors  Opening 

come  to  seduce  the  masses  from  their  fealty  to 
the  'god-country,'  and  to  corrupt  their  morals 
generally.  These  gross  misconceptions  we  had 
to  endeavor  to  dispel  by  invariable  kindness  and 
generosity,  by  showing  that  we  had  come  to  do 
good  to  them  only  and  on  all  occasions  of  our 
intercourse,  whether  we  met  in  friendship,  on 
business,  on  duty,  or  otherwise;  a  very  simple 
Christian  duty  this ! 

"As  to  the  other  pre-requisite  to  successful 
work,  we  were  in  many  respects  not  favorably  situ- 
ated, and  our  progress  was  correspondingly  slow. 
We  had  none,  or  hardly  any,  of  the  helps  for 
studying  the  language  that  have  been  so  abun- 
dantly  furnished  to  those  who  arrived  at  later 
dates.  The  discovery  of  a  new  part  of  speech, 
or  of  a  new  construction,  seemed  to  us  often 
like  the  discovery  of  a  new  land  and  often  was 
the  source  of  great  joy. 

"As  to  myself,  1  may  say  that,  as  an  auxiliary 
in  my  endeavors  to  secure  the  above  two  requi- 
sites, I  early  commenced  to  give  gratuitous  in- 
structions at  my  home  in  the  English  language, 
and  various  other  useful  branches.  This  course, 
under  Providence,  led  to  my  being  early  identi- 
fied with  educational  matters,  and  did  much  to 
give  shape  to  my  career  in  this  country." 


141 


VIII 

THE  REVOLUTION  OF   1 868 

The  intellectual  movement  of  a  century  and  a 
half  in  Japan  was  now  nearing  its  culmination. 
What  would  issue?  In  the  presence  of  aliens 
and  of  the  forces  of  modern  civilization,  would 
there  be  collision  and  disaster  or  a  union  of 
forces  ? 

It  is  easy  now  to  see  clearly  what  did  happen. 
It  was  very  far  from  being  visible  in  1868.  Yet 
there  were  in  Japan  on  the  27th  of  June,  1865, 
two  men  who  were  to  influence  mightily  the 
issue.  One  was  Sir  Harry  Parkes,  the  British 
envoy,  a  stalwart  whose  one  idea  in  life  was  to 
"make  England  great."  The  other  was  Guido 
Verbeck,  citizen  of  no  country,  whose  consum- 
ing aim  was  to  win  disciples  for  the  Master, 
whom  each  followed.  Both  were  pupils  of 
Gutzlaff  of  China  and  made  so  about  the  same 
time.  In  Zeist,  this  apostle  had  inspired  Guido 
Verbeck.  In  Macao  he  trained  Harry  Parkes  in 
the  most  difficult  of  languages. 

Sir  Harry  Parkes  reached  Nagasaki  from 
Shanghai,  June  27th,  1865.  With  his  coming,  a 
new  era  in  diplomacy  opened,  for  Parkes,  as  he 
once  told  me  at  his  own  home,  at  the  British  le- 
gation in  Yokohama,  at  once  set  about  to  find 

142 


The  Revolution  of  1868 

out  who  was  master  in  Japan  and  where  and 
what  the  government  was.  He  "took  precau- 
tions," as  he  told  me,  and  then  interviewed 
various  high  official  figureheads  and  clan  leaders. 
Aided  powerfully  by  Satow  and  the  other  students 
of  Japanese  history  at  the  British  legation,  he 
began  to  see  the  real  facts.  There  was  only  one 
fountain  of  authority— the  Mikado.  Alone  among 
all  the  foreign  ministers,  who  wished  to  support 
the  Shogun,  Parkes  held  to  the  Mikado's  side. 
He  advised  the  loan  of  British  money  and  other- 
wise encouraged  the  new  government  whose  rise 
we  shall  describe.  He  served  in  the  East  forty- 
three  years,  with  vigor  in  Japan  from  1865  until 
1883,  and  in  China  from  1883  until  1885,  dying, 
of  overwork  in  Peking.  He  was  often  made  the 
target  of  abuse  and  even  of  slander.  He  was  a 
stalwart  for  British  interests,  as  Verbeck  was  for 
freedom  of  conscience  and  Christianity.  Of  both 
Verbeck  and  Parkes,  the  Japanese  confessed  that 
none  was  ever  able  to  do  what  they  so  often  did 
to  other  foreigners— twine  them  around  their 
fingers. 

In  the  military  campaign  on  land,  following 
the  naval  battle  at  Shimonoseki,  the  prestige  of 
the  Bakufu  was  ruined  and  that  of  Choshiu  was 
increased.  When  the  Shogun  died,  Hitotsubashi 
became  head  of  the  Tokugawa  clan,  and  of  the 
Yedo  government.  But  by  this  time,  the  agita- 
tion for  national  unity,  begun  a  generation  or 
more  ago  and  made  perhaps  a  logical  necessity 
from  the  study  of  native  history  and  literature  a 

143 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

century  and  a  half  previous,  took  phenomenal 
form  in  the  combination  in  the  southwestern 
clans.  It  was  their  desire  to  abolish  the  duarchy 
and  have  one  source  of  authority,  the  Mikado,  to 
be  the  sole  ruler  of  Japan.  Early  in  1867,  when 
the  emperor  Komei  died,  he  was  succeeded  by 
his  son  Mutusuhito,  now  and  since  1868,  the  sole 
ruler  of  the  empire. 

The  new  Tycoon,  then  a  young  man  in  his 
early  thirties  (now,  in  1900,  a  hale  and  hearty 
gentleman  living  privately  in  Tokio)  met  the 
foreign  ministers  at  Osaka.  The  interview  was 
very  satisfactory.  Sites  for  the  new  settlement  of 
Kobe  and  Osaka  were  determined  upon  and  the 
west  coast  was  inspected  to  see  what  harbors 
were  best  suited  for  foreign  trade.  Nevertheless, 
while  relations  between  the  Yedo  government, 
which  was  the  government  de  facto,  and  the 
foreigners  were  improving,  yet  opposition  be- 
tween the  Tycoon  and  the  vassal  daimios  was 
ripening  into  hostility.  At  this  time  the  relations 
between  the  various  landed  feudal  lords  and  the 
Tycoon  was  much  like  that  of  the  various  states 
of  Europe,  with  such  suzerainty  as  might  be  in- 
volved in  a  congress  of  powers,  and  it  was  held 
that  the  action  of  the  emperor  and  Tycoon 
against  Choshiu  disturbed  the  balance  of  power. 
The  clans  of  Satsuma,  Tosa,  Echizen,  and  Uwa- 
jima  had  therefore  taken  action  in  memorials  to 
the  rulers  in  Kioto  and  Yedo,  the  Throne  and  the 
Camp,  looking  to  a  change  in  the  order  of  things. 

The  ex-prince  of  Tosa  declared  in  a  memorial 
144 


The  Revolution  of  1868 

that  the  East  and  the  West  had  risen  in  arms 
against  each  other,  and  that  Japan  had  long  been 
the  stage  of  civil  war,  the  effect  being  to  draw  on 
the  Japanese  the  insults  of  foreign  nations.  The 
reason  for  this  state  of  affairs  was  that  the 
administration  proceeded  from  two  centres,  and 
"the  empire's  ears  and  eyes  were  turned  in  two 
different  directions."  The  march  of  events  had 
brought  about  a  revolution  and  the  old  system 
could  not  be  obstinately  persevered  in.  "We 
should  restore  the  governing  power  into  the 
hands  of  the  sovereign,  and  so  lay  a  foundation 
on  which  Japan  may  take  its  stand  as  the  equal 
of  all  other  countries."  The  clans  hostile  to  the 
Tycoon,  eager  for  foreign  trade,  and  wishing  a 
united  country,  now  began  to  press  matters  so 
strenuously  that  the  new  Shogun,  seeing  the  state 
of  affairs,  in  a  characteristic  document  resigned 
his  office  on  the  9th  of  November,  1867.  He  did 
this  with  the  understanding  that  a  general  council 
of  daimios  should  be  convened  in  Kioto  to  de- 
liberate and  settle  the  basis  of  a  new  constitu- 
tion. 

The  15th  of  December  was  the  day  fixed  upon 
for  the  opening  of  the  assembly,  and  the  air  at 
once  became  heavy  with  schemes  of  reform  and 
programs  to  be  discussed.  Yet  it  was  noticed, 
that  on  all  roads  to  Kioto,  instead  of  the  coun- 
cillor and  the  statesmen,  armed  men  were  mov- 
ing, the  troops  from  Yedo  arriving  by  land  and 
sea  from  the  east,  and  various  bodies  of  daimios' 
retainers,    ronin    and  soldiers  of    Satsuma  and 

145 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

other  clans,  were  entering  from  the  southwest 
and  the  north.  Soon  the  City  of  the  Ninefold 
Circle  of  Flowers  was  full  of  the  flower  of 
Japan's  warlike  men.  All  wondered  what  was 
to  happen.  A  few  determined  men  believed  that 
they  knew.  On  the  first  of  January,  1868,  the 
flags  of  the  United  States  and  the  European 
nations  were  hoisted  at  Osaka  and  Hiogo,  city 
and  port,  salutes  were  fired  and  commerce  began. 

In  Kioto,  the  soldiers  of  the  combination, 
Satsuma,  Tosa,  Echizen,  Owari  took  possession 
of  the  palace  gates,  surrounded  the  emperor  with 
a  new  set  of  nobles  and  councillors  favorable  to 
their  views,  and  on  the  4th,  the  next  day, 
obtained  the  emperor's  decree,  abolishing  the 
Bakufu,  establishing  the  new  government,  and 
admitting  the  Choshiu  troops  to  the  capital. 

Meanwhile  the  troops  of  the  Tokugawa  family 
occupied  the  castle  of  Nijo,  and  each  garrison 
kept  watch  upon  the  other.  The  Tokugawa  men 
considered  the  action  of  the  3d  of  January  as  a 
coup  d'etat  and  were  annoyed  at  being  excluded 
from  the  new  government.  Listening  to  the 
advice  of  his  retainers,  Hitotsubashi  proceeded  at 
the  head  of  his  troops  to  Osaka  on  the  night  of 
the  6th.  This  action  was  deemed  so  highly 
suspicious  by  the  new  government,  that  it  pro- 
hibited the  two  clans  most  closely  connected 
with  the  Tokugawa  family,  Kuwana  and  Aidzu, 
from  reentering  the  capital. 

The  new  form  of  government,  or  constitution, 
and  the  laws  issued  in  the  emperor's  name  were 

146 


The  Revolution  of  1868 

published  in  the  spring  of  1868  in  the  official 
gazette,  a  newspaper  ^  established  by  two  of  the 
young  officers  engaged  in  the  revolution,  or 
restoration.  In  Yedo,  the  great  yashikis  of  the 
Satsuma  clan,  reputed  to  be  the  hiding-place  of 
ronins  and  robbers,  were  attacked  and  burned. 
This  increased  the  bitterness  between  the  two 
clans  of  Satsuma  and  Tokugawa.  The  new  gov- 
ernment finding  itself  without  money  resolved 
on  contributions  from  the  Tokugawa  and  other 
clans,  and  sent  the  ex-princes  of  Owari  and 
Echizen  to  Osaka  to  get  the  adherence  of  the  late 
Shogun  and  make  him  a  gijo  or  supreme  councillor, 
one  of  the  second  highest  officers  in  the  govern- 
ment. He  agreed,  but,  afterward,  persuaded  by 
the  daimios  of  Aidzu  and  Kuwana,  he  started  for 
Kioto  with  hostile  intent  with  all  his  following, 
probably  ten  thousand  men,  the  clansmen  of 
Aidzu  and  Kuwana  being  in  the  van.  This 
action  the  court  considered  was  in  direct  defiance 
of  its  order  and  the  troops  of  Satsuma  and  Choshiu 
were  sent  to  the  two  principal  roads  to  block  the 
way  of  the  Eastern  army.  A  battle  broke  out  on 
the  27th,  and  continued  four  days.  It  was  now  a 
fight  between  the  'Moyal  army  "  and  the  "  rebels," 
or,  about  two  thousand  young  men,  armed  chiefly 
with  American  rifles,  lightly  clad,  and  drilled  in 
the  modern  style  of  war,  against  men  for  the 
most  part  cased  in  antique  armor,  with  spears 
and    swords    and    old-fashioned    guns.      The 

1  The  beginning  of  the  journalism  of  Japan,  in  which  there 
are  now  nearly  eight  hundred  serial  publications. 
147 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Satsuma  and  Choshiu  clansmen  making  excellent 
use  of  artillery,  entrenchments,  and  flanking 
attacks,  won  the  victory.  On  the  30th  the  whole 
eastern  army  broke,  fled,  and  were  pursued  to 
Osaka,  which  was  entered  and  the  foreign  lega- 
tions were  burned  or  sacked. 

The  Shogun,  in  disguise,  with  some  of  his 
followers,  abandoned  the  castle,  and  on  the  31st 
crossed  the  bar  in  a  boat.  He  was  received  on 
board  the  United  States  steamer  Iroquois,  though 
it  was  not  known  at  the  time  that  so  high  a  per- 
sonage had  fallen  so  low  in  fortune.  Reaching 
his  own  steam  corvette,  the  Kayomaru,  he  left 
for  Yedo.  The  next  day  the  magnificent  castle 
of  Osaka,  famed  for  its  ramparts  and  towers  and 
gates,  and  the  astonishing  size  of  the  stones  in  its 
walls,  was  set  on  fire,  all  the  woodwork  being 
turned  to  ashes  and  the  wounded  men  inside  of 
it  perishing  miserably.  Now  began  the  civil 
war,  which  lasted  for  two  years,  ending  in  the 
complete  triumph  of  the  Imperial  army.  Envoys 
from  the  emperor  met  the  foreign  representatives 
and  signed  the  treaty  in  the  name  of  the  Mikado. 
In  spite  of  the  murderous  swords  of  fanatics  and 
assassins,  the  foreign  ministers  entered  Kioto  and 
had  audience  with  the  Mikado,  who,  on  the  6th 
of  April,  proceeded  in  person  to  the  castle  of 
Nijo,  now  turned  into  an  office  for  the  Council  of 
State,  and  took  an  oath  in  the  presence  of  the 
court  nobles  and  daimios  to  establish  the  founda- 
tion of  the  empire  according  to  the  five  principles 
laid  down,  which  were  as  follows : 

148 


The  Revolution  of  1868 

1.  Government  based  on  public  opinion. 

2.  Social  and  political  economy  to  be  made  the 
study  of  all  classes. 

3.  Mutual  assistance  among  all  for  the  general 
good. 

4.  Reason,  not  tradition  to  be  the  guide  of 
action. 

5.  Wisdom  and  ability  to  be  sought  after  in 
all  quarters  of  the  world. 

It  was  this  last  provision  making  education  the 
basis  of  progress,  and  the  quest  for  talent  and 
learning  everywhere,  to  create  a  new  order  of 
ideas,  that  opened  the  way  for  the  entrance  into 
Japan  of  a  great  army  of  teachers,  engineers, 
physicians,  scholars,  and  experts  in  every  depart- 
ment of  human  energy  and  achievement.  They 
came  from  Christendom,  excelling  even  that  won- 
derful precedent  of  the  Czar  Peter  the  Great,  in 
seeking  from  Holland  the  brain  and  skilled  muscle 
for  the  making  of  a  new  civilization. 

The  new  government  found  itself  in  a  position 
of  great  difficulty.  It  had  floated  into  power  on 
the  two  ideas  of  the  restoration  of  the  Mikado 
and  the  expulsion  of  foreigners.  Unable  to  ac- 
complish the  latter  aim,  they  found  themselves 
obliged  gradually  to  come  to  some  compromise 
between  the  foreigners,  to  whom  they  were  con- 
stantly making  protestations  of  friendship,  and 
the  fanatical  and  ignorant  natives,  to  whom 
Christianity  meant  sorcery,  witchcraft,  and  alli- 
ance with  foxes  and  badgers,  and  who  wished 
the  defiling  aliens  driven  into  the  sea  and  drowned. 

149 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

The  troubles  of  the  Japanese  ministers  were  very 
great. 

Instead  of  the  old  edicts  against  Christians  and 
the  apparatus  of  inquisition  by  the  Buddhist 
priests,  the  Council  of  State  now  issued  a  fresh 
defamation  of  Christianity  and  proclaimed  a  ban 
against  believers  in  **  the  evil  sect"  of  which  the 
following  is  a  translation.  It  was  published  in 
March  and  republished  in  October,  1868. 

"The  Evil  Sect  called  Christian  is  strictly  pro- 
hibited. Suspicious  persons  should  be  reported 
to  the  proper  officers,  and  rewards  will  be 
given."  Dai  Jo  Kuan  (Supreme  Council  of  the 
Government). 

These  edicts  were  published  with  India  ink  on 
notice  boards  which  were  hung  up  under  roofs 
or  sheds,  set  up  upon  a  platform  of  masonry  in 
every  city,  town  and  village,  near  ferries, 
markets,  highways,  and  places  of  public  assem- 
bly. The  idea  was  not  only  to  ban,  but  to  stamp 
out  the  new  doctrine. 

The  first  outward  activity  was  seen  in  the 
proclamation  of  June,  1868,  which  gave  the  anti- 
Christian  and  anti-foreign  parties  great  glee. 
About  four  thousand  Japanese  Christians,  living 
mostly  in  Urakami,  a  village  near  Nagasaki,  were 
ordered  to  be  distributed  among  the  various 
provinces,  many  of  them  being  actually  sent  out 
into  lonely  and  remote  places.  They  were  to  be 
employed  as  laborers  or  kept  as  prisoners,  during 
the  space  of  three  years,  by  no  fewer  than  thirty- 
four  daimios.     If  during  this  time  they  repented, 

150 


The  Revolution  of  1868 

they  were  to  be  set  free,  if  not,  they  were  to  be 
beheaded.     The  Christians  were  torn  from  their 
homes,  tied  together  hke  so  many  bundles  of  fire 
wood,  and  arrayed  in  the  red  suits  of  criminals, 
were  distributed  throughout  the  empire.     Kido, 
called  "the  pen  of  the  Revolution,"  arrived  in 
Nagasaki  in  June,  1868,  to  carry  out  this  decree. 
He  declared  to  the  foreign  ministers  of  state  that 
the  government  was  simply  taking  precautionary 
measures  to  preserve  order  between  the  Christian 
population  and  the  lower  classes  of  the  Japanese. 
Kido,  like  most  of  his  countrymen,  brave  and 
comparatively  enlightened  as  he  was,  then  shared 
the  common  superstition,  of  the  more  savagely 
ignorant  of  his  people,  that  a  missionary  was  a 
person  sent  to  Japan  to  break  the  laws  of  the 
country.     Of  this  notion,  Kido  learned  later  to  be 
heartily  ashamed.     It  was  reserved  in  after  years 
for  Guido  Verbeck  to  be  the  most  potent  personal 
force  in  Japan,  using  reason  alone  in  paralyzing 
the  arm  of  persecution.  . 

Guido  Verbeck,  who  was  one  of  the  noblest 
representatives  of  the  land  of  William  the  Silent, 
and  Hugo  Grotius,  was  a  champion  of  freedom 
of  conscience  and  of  the  brotherhood  of  man. 
Ardent,  doughty,  wise,  patient,  far  seeing,  he 
delved  in  the  mine  or  mounted  the  watch-tower 
of  observation  as  occasion  called.  In  the  new 
movement  for  nationalism,  he  saw  his  opportu- 
nity. He  would  plunge  into  the  crater  of  politics 
and  war,  if  need  be,  to  secure  freedom  of  reli- 
gion, the  adoption  of  international  law, the  sending 
151 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

of  more  native  young  men  abroad  to  study,  and 
the  introduction  of  more  Christian  gentlemen  into 
Japan.  As  soon  as  news  of  the  decisive  battle  of 
Fushimi  reached  him  he  wrote  home  for  approval 
of  a  visit  to  Osaka,  not  forgetting  things  nearer 
home,  for  the  canny  and  aesthetic  Japanese  have  an 
eye  for  material  advantage,  as  keen  as  a  Yankee's, 
and  wanted  wealth  by  mining,  as  well  as  by 
commerce.     He  wrote: 

**  By  the  way,  have  you  among  your  acquaint- 
ance perhaps  a  good  scientific  and  practical 
miner?  The  Prince  of  Hizen  wishes  to  explore 
and  open  his  mines,  especially  coal,  and  I  was  de- 
sired to  inquire  for  a  suitable  man  to  undertake 
this  job.  He  would  be  sure  of  a  good  salary  and 
it  would  be  a  fme  thing  to  have  a  good  Christian 
man  occupy  such  a  position;  there  are  alas  too 
few  of  these  here.  It  is  not  as  yet  a  sure  thing, 
and  I  am  not  authorized  to  promise  anything; 
yet  it  would  well  be  worth  to  consider  the  in- 
quiry. If  we  could  succeed  in  placing  one  such 
a  person  satisfactorily,  there  would  probably  be 
a  demand  for  more  in  time,  and  it  would  be  well 
worth  some  trouble  to  supply  the  country  with 
active  Christian  men  in  the  various  pursuits  of 
life.  You  have  no  idea  how  the  name  of 
Christian  is  disgraced  by  most  foreigners  in 
Japan,  and  it  would  almost  pay  just  to  hire  good 
Christian  families  and  to  make  them  live  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  country  to  exemplify  and  adorn 
the  doctrine.  This  too  would  put  a  stop  to  much 
of  the  open  wickedness  and  immorality  now  prev- 

152 


The  Revolution  of  1868 

alent  among  foreign  residents  of  all  nationalities 
and  ranks. 

"In  compliance  with  your  suggestion,  I  shall 
start  to-morrow  on  a  trip  to  Osaka,  the  heart  and 
headquarters  of  the  empire  (i.  e.,  taking  Miyako 
[Kioto]  into  account),  and  shall  try  my  utmost  to 
bring  about  the  desired  objects  touching  the 
young  men, — imperial  appointment  to  the  Naval 
Academy  and  suitable  support.  As  soon  as  1  got 
your  letters,  I  began  my  preparations,  and  have 
reason,  I  think,  to  expect  a  good  welcome  from 
my  numerous  acquaintances  at  the  capital.  It  is 
no  easy  task  I  am  about  to  undertake,  and  I 
should  not  think  of  entering  on  it  so  extensively 
unless  at  your  express  wish.  My  going  North 
involves  the  suspension  of  my  schools  here  (a 
vacation  to  about  sixty  or  more  studious  youth), 
considerable  expense  (not  chargeable  in  full  to 
the  mission),  my  leaving  my  home  and  my  family 
alone  among  strangers.  For  five  years  I  have  not 
been  outside  of  a  circle  of  a  radius  of  four  miles 
and  very  seldom  to  the  periphery  of  that.  On 
the  other  hand,  besides  the  advantages  hoped  for 
if  I  succeed,  my  trip  gives  me  an  opportunity  to 
spy  out  the  land  in  view  of  missionary  enterprise 
and  location. 

"  If  a  favorable  opportunity  offers,  I  shall  not  fail 
to  impress  upon  leading  men  the  reasonableness 
and  importance  of  toleration  of  our  faith  in 
Japan. 

"There  is  a  good  deal  of  preparatory  work  to 
be  done,  which,  like  the  scaffolding  used  in  rear- 

153 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

ing  a  new  building,  need  not  be  publicly  exposed, 
but  which  the  master  builders  ought  to  know, 
and  which  the  public  will  only  appreciate  after 
the  building  is  ready  for  general  inspection." 

We  have  already  seen  that  Mr.  Verbeck  had 
started  a  few  students  on  their  way  to  the  United 
States,  and  that  this  was  the  beginning  of  a 
mighty  movement.  Most  of  those,  to  whom  he 
gave  letters  of  introduction  to  the  missionary 
secretary  Rev.  John  M.  Ferris,  D.  D.,  were 
courteously  assisted  in  one  way  or  another, 
often  at  the  expense  of  money,  time  and 
trouble — all  most  gladly  given.  In  1885,  for  the 
production  of  my  pamphlet  '*  The  Rutgers  Grad- 
uates in  Japan,"  I  wrote  to  Dr.  Ferris  for  data 
and  received  with  other  information  the  follow- 
ing. It  will  be  seen  that  the  young  Japanese 
financially  stranded  in  America,  by  the  revolution 
in  Japan,  were  handsomely  tided  over  all  diffi- 
culties. 

"  When  the  movement  was  at  its  height,  the 
revolution  which  deposed  the  Tycoon,  began  in 
Japan.  Some  of  the  students  were  soon  out  of 
money.  They  called  on  me  and  stated  their  case. 
I  visited  a  few  gentlemen  and  wrote  to  others. 
A  company  was  quickly  formed  which  engaged 
to  furnish  money  as  I  might  call  for  it,  until  the 
result  of  the  attack  on  the  Tycoon  should  be 
reached.  The  following  persons  were  the  con- 
tributors: Jonathan  Sturges,  James  Schieffelin, 
James  A.  Williamson,  D.  Jackson  Steward,  Gen- 
eral Robert  H.  Pruyn,  and  Mrs.  Anna  M.  Ferris. 
154 


The  Revolution  of  1868 

When  the  revolution  of  1868  was  decided,  the 
advances,  for  which  the  students  had  given  due 
bills,  were  repaid.  When  the  last  company  of 
commissioners  from  Japan,  led  by  Mr.  Iwakura 
visited  this  country,  they  prepared  a  paper  recog- 
nizing this  generous  kindness  and  saying  that  it 
had  had  more  effect  in  confirming  the  friendly 
regard  for  the  United  States  by  the  government 
of  Japan  than  any  event  in  their  intercourse  with 
this  country.  Some  of  the  contributors  advanced 
five  to  six  hundred  dollars. 

*'  My  impression  is  that  three  or  four  gentlemen 
besides  those  I  have  named,  assisted  in  providing 
for  the  emergency,  but  I  was  at  the  time  obtain- 
ing money  for  various  objects  and  cannot  speak 
of  them  positively.  The  chief  contributors  were 
those  I  have  named.  John  M.  Ferris. 

''New  York,  Dec.  30,  1885." 

We  also  produce  in  English  the  august  docu- 
ment sent  by  the  imperial  envoys,  Iwakura,  court 
noble  and  premier  and  Okubo  of  Satsuma,  of 
whom  we  shall  hear  further  in  our  narrative. 

Official  Acknowledgment  of  the  Mikado's  Am- 
bassadors, Iwakura  and  okubo. 

•«  Secretary's  Office  of  the  Japanese  Embassy, 

«  Boston,  August  5,  1872. 

''Rev.  J.  M.  Ferris,  D.  D., 

"Dear  Sir: — The  Ambassadors,  being  on 
the  eve  of  their  departure  from  the  United 
States,  desire  again  to  convey  to  you  this  expres- 
sion of  their  thanks  for  the  interest  which  you 

155 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

have  (for  many  years)  invariably  manifested  in 
their  people  and  country. 

''The  kind  assistance  and  encouragement  which 
were  so  generally  extended  by  you  to  the  Japa- 
nese students  who  studied  in  this  country  during  a 
crisis  of  such  importance  in  our  national  history, 
will  long  be  remembered  by  us.  These  students 
are  now  far  advanced  in  knowledge,  and  are  very 
useful  to  our  country,  and  the  Ambassadors  feel 
it  is  mainly  due  to  your  instrumentality. 

"  Until  recently  an  impression  has  prevailed  in 
Japan,  that  many  foreign  nations  did  not  enter- 
tain kindly  feelings  toward  our  people. 

"The  generous  conduct  exhibited  by  yourself 
and  other  gentlemen  in  this  instance,  as  well  as 
in  all  matters  of  educational  interest  pertaining  to 
the  Japanese  youth,  will  do  much  to  correct  this 
impression,  and  will  do  more  to  cement  the 
friendly  relations  of  the  two  countries  than  all 
other  influences  combined. 

"Please  extend  to  the  gentlemen  this  renewed 
assurance  of  the  Ambassadors'  high  appreciation 
of  their  kindness,  and  they  will  likewise,  on  re- 
turning to  Japan,  explain  the  matter  satisfactorily 
to  our  government. 

"We  remain  yours  very  truly, 

"TOMOMI  IWAKURA, 
"TOSHIMITI  OKUBO." 


156 


IX 

TRIP  TO  OSAKA 

As  we  have  seen,  the  great  political  upheaval 
of  1868  gave  the  alert  missionary  an  opportunity, 
which  seeing,  he  was  not  slow  to  seize.  He  had, 
months  before,  written  home  asking  leave  of 
absence  from  Nagasaki,  to  go  where  activities 
were  more  potent  and  promising.  Happy  in 
having  a  chief,  who  could  discern  the  signs  of 
the  times,  and  who  instantly  wrote  him  from 
New  York  to  go  to  Osaka,  Mr.  Verbeck  with  his 
body  servant  Koide,  sailed  at  2  a.  m.  on  Saturday, 
October  i8th,  1868.  On  Sunday,  he  passed  the 
famous  island  of  Hirado,  where  in  the  sixteenth 
century  the  Dutch  had  their  first  factory  and  set- 
tlement. At  7  p.  M.  he  entered  the  historic  straits 
of  Shimonoseki,  seeing  the  lights  of  the  city  but 
nothing  more.  Early  on  deck  next  morning,  he 
enjoyed  to  the  full  the  ravishing  sight  of  the  In- 
land Sea,  with  its  enchanting  coasts  and  islets, 
and  its  Island  Without  Death. 

For  nine  years,  with  the  slight  exception  of 
flight  to  China,  and  a  visit  to  Saga  in  Hizen, 
Verbeck  had  been  shut  up  to  the  hills  and  water 
view  of  Nagasaki.  He  now  revelled  in  the  wider 
expanse,  as  his  eyes  enjoyed  the  sight  of  what  is 
probably  the  most  beautiful  water  passage  in  the 

157 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

world.  At  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  anchor  was 
cast  in  front  of  Hiogo  or  rather  Kobe,  and  he 
landed  early  next  morning. 

The  harbor  of  Hiogo  had  been  defended,  or 
was  supposed  to  be,  by  two  miniature  martello 
towers,  made  of  wood,  and  already  beginning  to 
decay.  Built  by  Katsu  Rintaro,  each  was  ex- 
pected to  mount  twelve  guns,  but  not  being 
armed  and  already  crumbling,  they  were  not  very 
formidable,  and  about  as  useful  as  the  forts  in 
Yedo  bay.  At  the  Hizen  House,  he  breakfasted 
on  rice,  eggs,  and  soy,  eating  as  one  in  the 
chairless  room,  from  a  table  five  inches  high, 
must  perforce  do,  while  resting  on  one's  "  hams 
and  heels."  On  trying  to  rise  he  found  himself 
very  stiff  in  the  knees.  Whereupon  the  hotel 
servant  laughed,  to  the  great  amusement  of  his 
own  servant  Koide. 

As  in  old  Japanese  style,  the  travelling  barber 
came  to  the  house  with  his  brass-bound  box  of 
scraping  tools,  having  many  drawers  and  a 
hopper-shaped  top,  to  shave  Koide's  head  and 
face.  In  those  days  the  Japanese  had  on  their 
noddles  from  the  forehead  clear  back  to  the 
occiput  a  great  central  avenue  of  space  kept  bald, 
over  which,  the  long-grown  hair  of  the  cultivated 
area,  duly  stiffened  with  camellia  pomatum,  was 
gathered  up.  The  resulting  stick  of  hair,  rigid 
enough  to  remain  one  of  a  Roman  lictor's  fasces, 
was  first  tied  at  the  angle  where  bent,  and  then 
laid  on  the  top  of  the  head.  As  stiff  as  a  ram- 
rod, and  in  shape  like  a  gun  cock,  the  whole 

158 


Trip  to  Osaka 

suggested  an  old-fashioned  musket  on  a  small 
scale.  The  razors  were  in  shape  like  Japanese 
sword  ends.  The  chief  emollient  used,  or  the 
only  one,  was  hot  water.  There  were  also 
curved  and  hooped  tools  of  steel  for  excavating 
the  ears  and  nose.  When  man  or  woman  in 
Japan  is  shaved,  the  process  extends  all  over  the 
face,  around  the  eyebrows  and  down  the  neck 
under  the  hair.  The  work  is  thoroughly,  as  well 
as  neatly  and  comfortably,  done.  Already  men 
were  beginning  to  show  their  politics  and  prefer- 
ences, radical  and  conservative,  by  the  style  of 
hair-dressing  which  they  favored,  while  the 
street  songs  reflected  the  change  of  fashion. 

The  baggage  and  servants  coming  later,  Mr. 
Verbeck  and  Koide  set  out  on  foot,  the  owner 
and  the  stuff  meeting  about  ten  miles  from 
Osaka,  at  a  place  called  Nishinomiya  or  the 
Western  Shrine.  One  ri  further,  they  came  to 
Amako,  where  was  a  pretty,  old-fashioned  castle, 
with  moat  full  of  water,  sloping  stone  walls, 
flanking  towers,  water  gate,  pine-trees  planted 
inside,  and  the  regulation  white  walls  or  ram- 
parts built  at  the  top  of  the  masonry.  Over  one 
hundred  of  these  feudal  castles  existed  in  the 
empire,  and  the  aggregate  amount  of  labor  and 
engineering  skill  expended  upon  them  had  prob- 
ably exceeded  that  spent  upon  the  Great  Chinese 
Wall. 

Taking  boat  and  poling,  drifting  with  the  cur- 
rent, or  sculling,  they  moved  along  in  the  dusk 
through  the  slough,  bayous,  and  swamps  in  a 

159 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

wonderfully  zigzag  way,  gradually  approaching 
Osaka.  They  heard  the  noise  of  drums  and 
trumpets  on  land  and  water,  quite  continuously, 
for  this  was  indeed  war  time.  Landing  at  nine 
o'clock,  they  looked  in  vain  for  a  foreign  hotel, 
for  the  new  settlement  arranged  for  by  treaty  had 
been  just  laid  out  and  was  but  half  finished. 
The  traveller  was  impressed  on  his  river  voyage 
with  the  richness  of  the  fields  and  vegetable 
gardens,  the  general  air  of  prosperity  in  the 
houses,  clothes,  and  looks,  of  the  country  and 
townspeople,  and  the  roads  which  were  lively 
with  many  travellers.  He  was  not  now  in  a 
corner,  but  in  the  heart  of  Japan. 

Osaka  was  the  greatest  commercial  city  of  old 
Japan.  In  it  most  of  the  clans  had  their  yashikis 
and  trading-houses.  After  a  long  ride  through 
the  canals  and  under  the  long  bridges,  of  which 
there  were  about  eleven  hundred  in  the  city,  Mr. 
Verbeck  was  attracted  to  the  Hizen  inn.  This 
typical  old  native  hostelry  had  its  courtyards, 
fish  ponds,  and  a  great  matted  parlor,  with 
bronze,  keramic  ware  and  kakemono  wall- 
pictures  in  the  alcove.  After  a  good  supper  our 
traveller  slept  soundly  and  safely. 

The  next  morning  he  rose  and  strolled  all  over 
the  foreign  settlement,  in  the  afternoon  spending 
the  time  among  the  book  shops.  He  was  pleased 
with  the  politeness  of  the  shopkeepers  and 
people,  though  he  had  one  encounter  with  a  rude 
Japanese.  He  priced  the  great  encyclopaedia  San 
Sai  Dzu  Yo,  (which  in  1900  we  see  is  under  re- 

160 


Trip  to  Osaka 

vision  and  to  be  brought  down  to  date),  then 
costing  only  ten  or  twelve  rio.     Both  he  and 
Koide  had  forgotten  their  umbrellas,  one  of  silk, 
the  other  of  oiled  paper,  but  the  next  morning 
walking  along  the  boatman  called  them  and  re- 
turned   these   ''portable  roofs."    This  honesty 
mightily  impressed  Mr.  Verbeck,  who  in  Naga- 
saki had   met  with  plenty  of  thieves,  but  not 
with  the  honor  which  the  proverb  doubtfully 
ascribes  to  them.     He  thought  that  the  streets  of 
Osaka  were  much  quieter  than  those  of  Yedo— no 
jolting,    singing  of    coolies,   horseback    riding, 
carts,  etc.    The  reason  of  this  lay  in  the  rivers 
which  like  great  arteries  ramify  the  city,  and  the 
multitude  of  water  courses  on  which  most  of  the 
traffic  and  transport  are  done.     On  the  same  ele- 
ment also  most  of  the  pleasure  was  taken  by 
parties  large  and  small.     At  Nagasaki  no  attempt 
seemed  to  be  made  to  save  room,  but  at  Osaka 
the  wood  was  piled  up  for  seasoning  on  the  roofs 
and  on  the  sheds,  saving  space  and  gaining  sun 
and    air.      Like    a    genuine    engineer,    Verbeck 
notices,  describes,  and  reproduces  in  drawing  a 
teapot  like  a  flue  boiler,  tobacco  pipes  that  un- 
screwed in  two  parts,  with  two  branches  for  two 
persons  to  smoke  from  the  same  pipe  head,  or,  to 
be  shut  up  and  carried  in  the  pocket.     He  noted 
a  syphon  for  the  pouring  of  soy,  the  condiment 
which  forms  the  basis  of  various  "shire"  sauces 
of  England,  and  a  dish  for  holding  this  same 
Japanese  product  of  salt  and  wheat.     He  found  * 
out  how  men  raised  up  old  piles  out  of  the  river 

161 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

by  using  boats  and  the  ''camel"  principle,  and 
he  made  diagrams  of  the  "house-boats."  His 
journal  shows  that  he  could  not  help  noticing  in 
Osaka  what  he  and  I  together  noticed  later  in 
Tokio,  in  ostentatious  and  prodigious  quantity, 
the  various  forms  and  adaptations  in  art,  use, 
and  material,  of  the  phallus.  Until  foreigners 
came  in  large  numbers  to  Japan,  the  phallic  cult 
had  reached  a  frenzy  that  had  ecclesiastical  and 
commercial,  as  well  as  religious  phases.  Priest, 
shopkeeper,  and  deluded  victim  of  superstition 
were  alike  interested  in  keeping  up  what,  in 
civilization,  is  a  caricature  of  religion. 

The  people  of  Osaka  were  polite  and  ready, 
but  at  Sakai  less  so.  This  latter  port  was  the 
seat  of  the  tragedy  of  March  8th,  1868,  when 
eleven  French  sailors  were  shot  to  death  by  Tosa 
clansmen,  and  reparation  made  by  eleven  Japa- 
nese, out  of  the  twenty  doomed  to  vengeance, 
committing  hara-kiri.  The  people  of  Sakai  were 
said  to  call  out,  what  they  thought  to  be  a  Eu- 
ropean word  "peke,  peke,"  a  Malay  term  which 
means  "get  out"  or  "go  away." 

In  the  foreign  settlement  most  of  the  new- 
comers were  from  Nagasaki,  very  few  coming 
from  Yokohama.  At  the  latter  place  the  opening 
of  Osaka  was  rather  ignored,  but  the  project 
could  not  be  hindered.  The  location  of  the  for- 
eign settlement  seemed  well  chosen,  being  on 
high  land,  accessible  to  native  craft  and  capable 
of  expansion.  Yet  while  at  Nagasaki,  the  native 
shops  were  full  of  "Ranguchi,"  foreign  goods, 

162 


Trip  to  Osaka 

or  literally,  "  Dutch  notions,"  and  women  dressed 
in  foreign  stuff,  often  after  a  certain  approach  to 
a  European  cut  which  made  absurdities,  here 
there  were  few  shops  or  wearers,  of  such  impor- 
tations. The  customhouse  officers,  interpreters, 
merchants,  laborers,  and  other  natives  in  the  new 
settlement  were  Japanese  from  Nagasaki.  With 
the  aid  of  a  kind  and  friendly  Tosa  officer,  who 
gave  him  his  card,  he  and  his  companion  Mr.  John 
Milne,  who  afterward  became  the  authority  on 
earthquakes  in  Japan,  paid  a  visit  to  the  castle, 
the  woodwork  of  which  had  recently  in  the 
civil  war  been  reduced  to  ashes.  He  admired  its 
dimensions  and  shape,  and  the  enormously  large 
stones,  which  rival  if  they  do  not  excel  the  won- 
ders of  the  Egyptian  pyramids  and  suggest  like 
problems  of  engineering.  The  view  from  the 
castle,  despite  the  haze  and  gloom,  was  fine. 
The  splendid  stonework  had  been  greatly  affected 
by  the  fire. 

On  his  way  back,  he  saw  a  large  silk  shop 
with  a  miniature  bamboo  grove  growing  at  the 
entrance.  At  this  time  the  governor  of  Osaka 
was  Goto  Shojiro.  Other  friends  whom  he  met 
were  young  Mr.  Pignatel  and  Mr.  Ga  Kinosuke, 
who  brought  bows  and  arrows  for  the  children, 
silk  for  Mrs.  Verbeck,  and  maps  for  himself.  He 
told  Mr.  Verbeck  that  very  soon  in  Tokio  an 
English  school  would  be  required.  Mr.  Yoshida, 
formerly  a  pupil  of  Mr.  Goble  of  Yokohama,  and 
afterward  in  the  United  States  as  student,  and 
later  Minister  from  Japan  at  Washington,  was  in 

163 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Osaka,  inquiring  about  teachers  and  schools  for 
his  native  province  of  Satsuma.  Visiting  Mr. 
Lowder,  Mr.  Verbeck  was  impressed  with  the 
fine  premises  of  the  British  Consulate.  By  in- 
quiry he  learned  that  much  business  was  being 
done  and  "that  Yokohama  with  its  banks  and 
big  houses  would  not  believe  in  Osaka,  but  they 
would  change  their  minds  too  late  and  confess 
their  error."  Even  Hartley,  the  bookseller, 
boasted  of  a  good  deal  of  business,  for  young 
Japan  was  ravenously  hungry  for  the  new 
knowledge  of  the  West. 

It  is  everywhere  the  custom  in  Japan  for  the 
natives  to  send  their  friends  pleasant  little  re- 
membrances, in  the  form  of  presents,  oranges, 
eggs,  etc.  In  Nagasaki  Mr.  Verbeck  received 
from  one  admirer,  a  pig.  In  Osaka  a  basket  of 
eggs  was  sent  him.  He  gave  them  to  the  hotel 
servant  who  in  a  few  minutes  came  back  asking 
whether  he  should  boil  them  all.  The  Japanese 
had  an  idea  that  the  foreigners,  whose  drinking 
utensils  were  so  enormously  larger  than  the  little 
cups  of  the  Japanese,  were  very  heavy  guzzlers 
and  devourers.  In  their  late  mythology  and  art 
are  representations  of  red-headed  Bacchuses  and 
bibulous  devotees  who  lounge  by  the  seashore, 
ladling  out  by  means  of  big  dippers  the  inebri- 
ating fluid  from  large  jars,  which  they  drink  from 
huge  beakers.  Perhaps  the  servant  thought  also 
that  a  foreigner  could  actually  eat  as  he  tradition- 
ally drank. 

Next  day  Friday  the  23d  was  spent  among  the 

164 


Trip  to  Osaka 

book  shops.  He  was  impressed  with  the  fact 
that  Osaka  being  a  large  city,  particular  streets 
could  be  devoted  to  particular  products,  such  as 
crockery,  tobacco  pipes,  books,  etc.  Three  sets 
of  the  great  encyclopaedia  with  some  other  books 
were  bought.  One  set  in  eighty-one  volumes 
was  for  the  Rev.  James  Summers  in  London,  one 
for  Rev.  James  H.  Ballagh,  and  one  for  himself. 
The  vast  size  of  the  temples,  the  splendid  carving 
and  imposing  furniture  impressed  the  visitor. 
On  the  pagoda  he  met  some  Satsuma  soldiers. 
While  Mr.  Ballagh  was  talking  with  Captain 
Bonger  and  another  gentleman,  the  laborers,  not 
over  polite,  kept  their  head  cloths  on.  Mr.  Ver- 
beck  smilingly  dropped  a  hint  in  praise  of  native 
politeness,  when  off  went  the  scalp  cloths. 
Whereupon,  the  old  lady  at  the  pagoda,  became 
voluble  in  compliments  at  his  being  able  to  talk 
Japanese  that  could  be  understood  both  by  Sat- 
suma soldiers  and  the  Central-country  **  coolies." 
In  one  temple  he  found  the  Five  Hundred  Rakan 
or  primitive  disciples  of  the  Buddha,  represented 
by  as  many  idols  distributed  in  three  shrines, 
some  of  them  two  or  three  feet  high. 

There  were  many  soldiers  from  the  different 
clans  roaming  about  the  city,  not  a  few  of  whom 
had  foreign  dress  and  arms.  There  was  no  real 
danger  from  these  men  of  war,  fresh  from  the 
battle  of  Fushimi,  though  the  raw  fellows  were 
not  nice  to  meet.  On  the  road  to  Umeda  he  saw 
at  a  distance  a  number  of  people  dressed  pecul- 
iarly in    white.     These,  he  thought,  were  per- 

165 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

haps  ronin,  that  had  consecrated  themselves  to 
deeds  of  valor  against  any  and  all  "foreign  bar- 
barians." In  such  case,  what  chance  would  he 
stand  against  so  many  men  armed  to  the  teeth. 
Yet  even  '*  supposing  these  strange  looking  ob- 
jects were  only  sheep,"  wrote  he,  "I  was  not 
like  Quixote  bound  for  trouble.  On  the  contrary 
I  was  bound  to  keep  out  of  it  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, but  after  all,  my  supposed  ronin  turned  out 
to  be  quite  as  harmless  as  Quixote's  sheep.  .  . 
As  I  was  walking  along  remembering  that  I  had  a 
band  of  bravos  at  my  back,  all  of  a  sudden  turning 
a  corner  I  came  upon  another  body  of  the  identical 
white  dressed  people,  and  what  should  they  turn 
out  to  be  but  mourners  in  a  funeral  procession! 
At  once  I  faced  about  again  and  followed  at  the 
rear  of  the  mourners.  My  doing  so  drew  others 
of  the  villagers  along  so  that  my  following 
swelled  the  original  procession  to  twice  its  num- 
ber, making  in  all  about  sixty  heads. 

"I  entered  at  once  into  conversation  with  the 
nearest,  and  it  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  com- 
pany that  the  foreigner  went  along.  They  told 
me  the  dead  was  to  be  burned,  the  teeth  and 
some  part  of  the  bones  alone  being  returned  to 
the  family  as  relics  for  worship.  There  are  five 
or  six  such  places  for  burning  the  dead  and  this 
Umeda  burned  daily  eighteen  or  twenty.  The 
body,  exhibited  a  few  minutes  at  the  temple  and 
prayer  said,  was  then  brought  to  the  burning  hall 
— a  kind  of  vault  with  two  doors.  As  we  came  in 
with  our  corpse,  three  fires  were  burning  from 

166 


Trip  to  Osaka 

previous  bodies.  Our  coffin  was  placed  in  the 
central  place  and  a  light  mat  of  straw  hung  over 
it.  Then  the  friends  came  in,  saying  prayers  in 
which  'Amida'  (Boundlessly  Merciful  Buddha) 
and  *  Gokuraku '  (Paradise)  were  frequently 
audible.  Then  each  took  a  whisk  of  straw  and 
set  fire  to  the  mat  covering.  Then  the  outside 
case  took  fire.  Just  at  this  interesting  stage  of 
the  performance,  a  bad,  rough  looking  fellow 
bade  all  go  out  and  close  the  door.  By  and  by  I 
sidled  up  to  the  side  door  and  actually  saw 
ghastly  white  knees  and  thighs  jutting  out  from 
the  debris  of  burning  straw  and  wood.  But 
again  the  operator  told  us  to  leave  and  he  shut  to 
the  door.  How  he  could  stand  it  inside  is  hard 
to  say,  for  where  we  first  entered  there  was  a 
disgusting  smell  of  burnt  human  flesh.  But  soon 
the  time  came  for  the  next  comer  and  the  doors 
were  thrown  open  once  more. 

"I  was  anxious  to  see  how  far  our  corpse  had 
by  this  time  proceeded  and  horrid  was  the  sight. 
The  back  was  turned  toward  the  front  door  and 
invisible  on  account  of  the  fuel  that  covered  it. 
But  the  fire  contracting  the  arms  and  muscles, 
just  as  I  looked,  a  white  arm  and  hand  holding  a 
rosary  came  slowly  moving  out  of  the  flame. 
Nobody  seemed  to  care.  Men  and  children  (no 
women)  stood  around  perfectly  unconcerned  and 
talked  with  me  about  my  dress  and  other  things. 
I  told  them  about  our  mode  of  burying.  I  was 
the  first  foreigner  ever  seen  at  the  temple,  they 
said.    Children  played  about  and  men  laughed. 

167 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

After  we  had  had  a  long  talk,  finally  I  said 
'come,  let  us  go  now,'  to  the  great  amusement 
of  the  crowd.  Another  coffin  arrived  before  we 
left,  and  we  met  one  more  on  our  way  through 
the  village." 

Arriving  at  his  lodgings,  Mr.  Verbeck  found 
Koide.  He  had  returned  from  Kioto,  saying  that 
Soyeshima  would  call  upon  him  next  day.  That 
night  he  enjoyed  a  walk  in  the  moonlight  with 
Mr.  Ballagh. 

The  next  day  he  learned  from  Ga  that  the  son 
of  Katsu  would  be  appointed  to  the  naval  acad- 
emy at  Annapolis.  Meeting  Soyeshima,  he  was 
told  that  there  would  be  no  difficulty  in  appoint- 
ing the  six  men  (elect  Japanese  students)  to  the 
Naval  Academy.  The  Vice  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  Komatsii,  would  settle  the  details  of  the 
matter. 

"Soyeshima  wanted  me  to  accompany  Ko- 
matsu  to  Yedo  to  see  the  United  States  Min- 
ister about  the  delivery  of  the  '  Stonewall  iron- 
clad,' pleading  that  foreign  neutrality  was  no 
longer  applicable  to  the  case  of  Japan,  since  there 
was  no  war  between  Yedo  and  Miyako,  the 
former  Tycoon  himself  being  at  peace  and  one 
with  the  Mikado's  government.  The  last  news 
from  the  seat  of  war  was  that  Aidzu's  forts  had 
been  taken,  that  his  forces  had  fallen  back  to 
Sendai,  and  that  those  still  resisting  the  govern- 
ment were  a  mere  collection  of  outlaws  now 
established  in  two  places  only. 

By  this  time  many  United  States  naval  officers 

168 


Trip  to  Osaka 

were  in  Osaka  and  a  number  of  Japanese  in  the 
government  service  had  called,  asking  for  Mr. 
Verbeck.  After  the  usual  earthquake  and  heavy 
rains,  he  spent  the  evening  writing  out  copies  of 
permission  for  the  Yokoi  brothers  to  enter  at 
Annapolis. 

The  next  morning  a  guide  being  sent  him,  Mr. 
Verbeck  went  to  call  upon  Mr.  Komatsu  who 
promised  to  give  the  appointment  to  the  two 
Yokoi  young  men.  Mr.  Komatsu  then  stated  the 
desire  of  the  government  to  establish  a  school  in 
Yedo  for  three  hundred  scholars,  with  three 
teachers  besides  Mr.  Verbeck,  one  of  the  depart- 
ments being  for  the  study  of  Dutch.  When  Mr. 
Komatsu  asked  Mr.  Verbeck  about  the  Stone- 
wall, the  latter  answered:  "I told  him  he  must 
convince  the  Minister  of  the  fact  that  the  oppos- 
ing party  are  only  a  small  faction,  in  no  way  able 
to  affect  foreign  intercourse  and  commerce  in  the 
empire.  An  American  naval  officer  had  been  en- 
gaged at  a  thousand  dollars  a  month  but  dis- 
missed after  fifty  days'  service.  He  demanded 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  indemnification. 
They  mean  to  offer  ten  thousand  dollars  and  pas- 
sage home." 

From  Komatsu's  house,  for  passage  to  his  own 
lodgings,  Mr.  Verbeck  went  on  one  of  the  fa- 
mous Cha-bune,  or  house-boats,  with  three  boat- 
men to  pole  him  along,  going  swiftly  with  the 
current,  which  gave  him  a  good  chance  to  study 
the  varieties  and  possibility  of  the  native  shipping. 
He  noticed  that  all  the  dirt  and  garbage  of  the 

169 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

city  was  carried  out  in  boats,  nothing  being 
thrown  in  the  river.  Everywhere  at  the  landings 
along  its  banks  were  good  broad  flights  of  stone 
steps  reaching  down  to  the  water.  Riding  to 
Sumiyoshi  he  noticed  great  stacks  of  straw  look- 
ing at  night  like  giants  on  guard.  The  cows 
were  used  for  draught.  Horses  were  larger  and 
dogs  rarer  than  at  Nagasaki.  Tea  and  cotton 
were  very  common  in  the  fields. 

Calling  on  Iwasaki,  he  was  informed  that  the 
real  mover  in  the  affair  of  the  school  was  Goto 
Shojiro,  but  he  also  learned  that  appointments 
had  been  made  of  Sugiura  to  military  study,  Mat- 
sumura  and  Nagai  to  the  navy,  Ohara  to  political 
science,  Yoshida  to  criminal  law,  and  Nagasawa 
to  medicine.  He  also  learned  that  the  Mikado 
was  to  go  up  to  Tokio  on  the  20th  (Japanese) 
day  of  the  month,  but  that  it  was  doubtful 
whether  he  would  be  able  on  account  of  lack  of 
funds.  Already  there  was  a  tendency  in  the  gov- 
ernment to  be  conciliatory,  even  to  their  enemies, 
for  peace  and  national  consolidation  were  desired. 
The  new  paper  money  made  in  Echizen^  was 
beginning  to  circulate,  but  counterfeits  were  al- 
ready in  vogue.  Reports  of  its  inflammability 
were  very  much  exaggerated,  as  Mr.  Verbeck 
found  by  experiment. 

After  seeing  various  matters  of  interest  in 
Osaka,  they  took  kago  which  seemed  very  amus- 
ing and  ludicrous  to  Mr.  Verbeck.  One  had 
either  to  tuck  up  feet  and  legs  under  him  or 

»  Mikado's  Empire,  p.  425. 
170 


Trip  to  Osaka 

let  his  limbs  dangle  down,  with  feet  near  the 
ground. 

This  ended  Mr.  Verbeck's  trip  to  the  central 
port  and  province  of  Japan.  After  coming  to 
their  home  in  the  south,  Koide,  on  his  way  to 
Hizen  from  Nagasaki,  fell  off  his  horse  and  died 
soon  after,  from  concussion  of  the  spine,  while 
Mr.  Verbeck's  life  was  spared  for  further  and 
more  glorious  usefulness.  He  was  now  busy  in 
moving  forward  the  long  procession  of  young 
men  from  Japan,  whose  faces  were  set  toward 
Christian  nations.  Of  one  from  Fukui,  in  Echi- 
zen,  whom  I  knew  at  New  Brunswick  so  well 
and  who  was  soon,  to  *'fall  on  sleep"  in  Wil- 
low cemetery  there,  Mr.  Verbeck  wrote  May 
4th,  1868: 

*'  As  to  Kusakabe,  I  have  put  his  affairs  in  train 
too,  and  I  think  we  may  hope  for  a  good  result. 
I  was  much  pleased  to  see  that  his  aptness  for 
study  attracted  attention,  and  I  must  say  that, 
although  I  know  any  number  of  what  I  would 
consider— humanly  speaking — better  men,  I  know 
but  ten  or  a  dozen  that  I  would  call  smarter  than 
Kusakabe,*  among  my  Japanese  acquaintance,  I 
mean.  It  is  encouraging  to  observe  the  general 
intelligence  of  these  people,  their  avidity  for  for- 
eign attainments,  and  their  thirst  for  knowledge 
generally.  Let  the  edicts  against  Christianity  be 
removed,  and  I  think  we  shall  have  one  of  the 
finest  and  most  prosperous  mission  fields  in  the 
world." 

^  See  Mikado's  Empire,  p.  430,  431. 
171 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Of  the  young  men  who  were  sent  to  America 
to  study,  the  two  Yokois,  Kusakabe  and  scores 
of  others,  and  much  information  about  the  stu- 
dents and  men  of  1868,  one  may  read  in  the 
author's  pamphlet:  "The  Rutgers  Graduates  in 
Japan,"  an  address  (with  notes  and  appendices) 
delivered  at  Rutgers  College,  June  16,  1885. 

Verbeck's  Americanism  has  the  true  ring.  He 
believed  he  had  found  his  work,  in  becoming  all 
things  to  all  men  that  he  might  lead  some,  and 
as  he  certainly  did  lead  many  to  Christ.  He 
wrote : 

"  It  is  said  that  the  American  and  Presbyterian 
Boards  of  Missions  refuse  to  send  out  foreigners, 
even  naturalized  foreigners,  under  their  auspices, 
because  they  think  that  such  men  are  not  fully 
imbued  with  the  American  spirit,  and  will  not 
sufficiently  uphold,  stand  up  for,  and  propagate 
this  spirit.  As  a  general  rule,  these  Boards  may 
be  right  in  using  it;  but  in  making  no  exceptions, 
as  I  found  on  inquiry  they  did,  I  humbly  think 
they  err.  Some  of  the  best  linguists  and  mission- 
aries of  the  American  Episcopal  Mission,  are  for- 
eigners. There  is,  or  rather  was,  Schwartz,  and 
a  large  number  of  really  illustrious  German  mis- 
sionaries in  the  employ  of  the  English  Church 
Mission.  In  speaking  of  myself,  I  would  do  so  in 
all  humility,  giving  all  the  glory  and  praise,  if  any 
there  are,  to  God  the  giver  of  all,  and  counting 
all  things  but  loss  and  worse  than  worthless  that 
do  not  directly  or  indirectly,  in  their  results  re- 
dound to  the  glory  of  our  Lord  and  Master,  and 

172 


A  Japanese  Graduate  of  Rutger's  College. 


Trip  to  Osaka 

to  the  advancement  of  His  cause.  Now  I  claim 
to  have  more  of  the  true  American  spirit  than  any 
Americans  in  this  part  of  the  Japanese  empire, 
and  claim  that  as  an  American,  I  am  more 
looked  to  and  respected  by  the  natives  than  any 
other  of  our  countrymen  here.  In  one  sense,  if 
you  know  how  immorally  all  foreigners,  Ameri- 
cans (alas!)  not  excepted,  live  here,  you  would 
not  think  this  much  of  a  boast;  but  I  refer  more 
to  our  general  institutions.  Further,  as  most  of 
the  Japanese  are  great  admirers  of  our  glorious 
Washington  and  of  the  institutions  which  he 
helped  establish,  I  have  many  inquirers,  especially 
at  the  present  time,  into  these  matters.  Now,  al- 
though I  never  lose  sight  of  our  Master's  saying: 
'My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,'  and  though 
I  know  that  missionaries  ought  to  avoid  getting 
mixed  up  in  political  affairs,  yet,  when  these 
people  come  and  sincerely  inquire  after  the  most 
likely  measures  that  would  conduce  to  the  wel- 
fare of  their  country,  I  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to  re- 
fuse them  a  hearing  and  advice,  in  a  place  where 
honest  advisers  are  few,  if  at  all  extant.  I  am  of 
course  careful  in  such  cases  to  state  clearly  that 
properly  such  matters  are  beyond  my  province, 
to  avoid  all  party  spirit  and  feeling,  and  to  im- 
press the  idea  that  my  private  desire  and  hope  are 
only  for  the  welfare,  not  of  a  section,  but  of  the 
whole  country." 

Which  of  our  readers  recalls  the  scene  at  Pe- 
king in  1873  when  Soyeshima  was  received  by  the 
Chinese    emperor  as  an  envoy  plenipotentiary 

173 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

from  Japan,  the  first  of  any  nation  that  ever  stood 
in  the  presence  of  the  "  Son  of  Heaven  "  ?  Who 
can  but  remember  the  long  and  illustrious  services 
of  Okuma  ?  yet  both  of  these  makers  of  New 
Japan  were  Mr.  Verbeck's  pupils.  He  wrote 
early  in  1868: 

**  More  than  a  year  ago  I  had  two  very  promis- 
ing pupils,  Soyeshima  and  Okuma,  who  studied 
through  with  me  a  large  part  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  the  whole  of  our  national  constitution. 
The  former  of  these  is  now  a  member  of  the  new 
parliament,  lately  formed  at  Miyako,  to  revise 
the  ancient  constitution  of  the  empire.  The 
latter  is  a  member  of  the  privy  council  of  the 
Governor-General  of  Kiushiu,  and  is  to  start  in  a 
few  days  for  the  capital,  Miyako,  in  connection 
with  the  revision  of  the  constitution.  On  Satur- 
day last,  I  was  invited  to  a  special  meeting  of 
some  leading  members  of  the  said  privy  council 
to  be  consulted  on  matters  in  regard  to  the  re- 
vision of  the  national  constitution,  and  to-morrow 
a  similar  meeting  is  to  take  place.  You  may  be 
sure  that  my  friends  and  pupils  above  named 
will  work  hard,  for  not  only  the  repeal  of  the 
ancient  edicts  against  Christianity,  but  if  possible 
for  universal  toleration  in  the  empire.  The  meet- 
ing for  consultation  was  very  interesting  and  1 
may  be  able  to  give  you  a  sketch  of  it  and  to- 
morrow's in  a  future  letter.  It  was  interesting  to 
see  how  their  own  reasoning,  with  a  little  guid- 
ing touch  here  and  there,  led  these  men  to  the 
conclusion  that  at  the  bottom  of  the  difference 

174 


Trip  to  Osaka 

in  civilization  and  power  between  their  own 
country  and  such  countries  like  ours  and  Eng- 
land, lay  a  difference  of  national  religion,  or 
theology,  as  one  of  them,  who  speaks  a  little 
English,  termed  it." 

What  with  his  journey  to  Osaka  and  his  trip  to 
Saga,  the  Nagasaki  teacher  was  beginning  to  be 
a  traveller,  as  well  as  sedentary  resident  in  the 
empire  which  he  afterwards  traversed  so 
thoroughly  as  evangelist  and  proclaimer  of  the 
good  news  of  God  to  his  Japanese  children.  On 
January  22d,  1869,  he  wrote  to  a  friend: 

"  You  see  that,  although  it  is  a  long  time  since 
you  had  any  lines  from  me,  I  am  still  at  the  old 
stand,  by  the  great  mercy  of  God.  Yet  of  late  I 
have  done  more  in  the  way  of  locomotion  than 
for  several  years  past,  and  indeed  I  begin  to  stand 
quite  loose  in  my  shoes  here.  1  mention  this 
here  at  the  outset,  because  my  apology  to  you 
for  my  long  silence  rests  on  these  very  circum- 
stances. After  waiting  long  for  letters  from  you, 
at  last  they  came;  but  then  also  came  my  mi- 
gratory turn  and  such  a  multiplicity  of  engage- 
ments that  I  barely  managed  to  get  ready  the 
monthly  letters  to  the  Secretary,  and  those  at  long 
intervals  to  my  own  relations." 

He  refers  jocosely  to  the  philosophers  and 
artists  whom  he  had  met  on  his  trip  to  Saga. 
For  amusement,  he  translates  literally  some  of 
the  Japanese  names. 

"As  a  specimen  of  Japanese  table-talk  during 
the  last  trip,  [to  Saga]  allow  me  to  mention  only 
175 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

one  of  those  little  incidents  that  my  notebooks 
are  full  of;  this,  however,  was  the  best  thing 
said.  On  Tuesday  p.  m.,  paid  a  visit  to  Mr. 
Marble,  who  for  my  entertainment  had  called 
Mr.  Heavenprint,  a  painter  of  a  good  deal  of 
celebrity  in  Hizen.  Mr.  Heavenprint  soon 
squatted  down  and  really  performed  astonishing 
things  with  his  brush,  by  a  few  bold  strokes,  and 
lighter  lines  and  shades,  producing  most  power- 
ful effects.  Within  half  an  hour  he  finished  half 
a  dozen  paintings  of  natural  objects  on  paper  six 
feet  long;  besides  one  of  a  rat  eating  a  hole  into 
a  big  turnip,  painted  with  his  little  finger  and 
nail  only.  Toward  the  end  of  the  artist's 
performances,  just  as  he  had  finished  a  fine  crane 
and  was  doing  the  ground  under  the  bird's  long 
legs,  Admiral  Leftyard,  who  was  with  us  as  usual, 
said  with  the  greatest  ease  and  oflf-handness: 
'Mr.  Heavenprint  is  quite  a  creator;  there  he 
makes  storks,  horses,  trees  and  flowers  while 
we  stand  looking  on,  and  now  again  this  beauti- 
ful crane; — but  there  is  a  difference:  the  Great 
Creator  made  the  earth  first,  and  then  peopled  it 
with  living  beings,  whereas  this  creator  makes 
his  animals  and  birds  and  trees  first,  and  then 
puts  terra  firma  under  them.'  This  was  prob- 
ably in  its  way  the  best  thing  said  on  the  trip; 
but  is  it  not  fine  and  could  it  be  excelled  by  any 
of  us.?" 

Japanese  art  being  a  subject  of  deep  and  abid- 
ing interest,  it  may  be  well  to  quote  Mr.  Ver- 
beck's  opinion  of  some  phases  of  this  develop- 

176 


Trip  to  Osaka 

ment  of  the  national  genius.  The  passages  we 
quote  are  from  his  long  and  masterful  review  of 
Professor  Basil  Hall  Chamberlain's  volume  on 
The  Classical  Poetry  of  the  Japanese  in  "  The 
Chrysanthemum"  for  1881,  Vol.  I.  8,  9,  10: 

**  Art,  in  Japan,  is  exceedingly  artificial.  It  is 
strange  that  it  should  be  so  with  a  people  who 
apparently  have  an  intense  love  of  nature.  Their 
birds,  insects,  and  flowers,  whether  painted  or 
carved  or  otherwise  made,  are  generally  true  to 
nature;  yet  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  even  these 
disfigured  by  unnatural  lines  and  touches.  Their 
larger  quadrupeds  are  almost  without  exception 
outrageously  unnatural.  Streaks  of  clouds  run 
right  through  the  foreground  of  many  of  the 
older  pictures  of  scenery.  All  their  singing  is  in 
an  artificial  voice.  Once  asking  a  connoisseur  of 
native  art  (he  had  himself  taken  lessons  in  oil- 
painting  at  the  Hague,  nearly  twenty  years  ago) : 
'  How  is  it,  Mr.  Uchida,  that  your  artists,  who 
do  so  well  in  flowers  and  insects,  fail  so  utterly 
in  quadrupeds,  and  notably  in  horses.^  How 
unnatural,  for  instance,  the  horse  on  yonder 
screen.'  *  Ah,  you  must  not  judge  of  them 
in  this  way,'  replied  my  friend,  'they  do  not 
attempt  to  imitate  nature  in  painting  horses  and 
some  other  animals.  Years  ago  a  celebrated 
artist  painted  a  horse  which  was  considered  the 
perfection  of  equine  beauty,  and  now  all  artists 
take  that  as  their  model;  whoever  succeeds  most 
nearly  in  reproducing  that  ancient  model  is  the 
best  artist.     It  may  be  that  the  introduction  of 

177 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

photography  will  help  to  correct  the  error.' — 
Something  like  this,  I  think,  is  applicable  to  the 
poetry  of  Japan:  it  is  exceedingly  artificial.  Mr. 
Chamberlain  has  taken  a  number  of  such  stand- 
ard horses  and  transformed  them  into  as  many 
fine  English  steeds. 

"Japanese  art  has  recently  gained  (or,  as  some 
think,  lost)  much  by  an  accession  of  foreign 
elements.  But  in  nearly  all  departments  of 
European  art,  too,  more  particularly  in  the 
pictorial  and  decorative,  may  of  late  years  be 
noticed  distinct  traces  of  notions  peculiar  to 
Japanese  art.  It  would  almost  seem  as  if  the 
European  artists'  kaleidoscope,  having  refused, 
after  the  exhaustive  use  of  ages,  to  show  new 
combinations  of  form  and  color,  had  suddenly 
been  given  a  fresh  turn,  bringing  to  light  wholly 
unexpected  and  hitherto  unthought  of  notions, 
and  patterns,  and  nuances.  The  result  of  the 
mingling  of  elements  so  foreign  to  each  other  is 
sometimes  surprising,  often  agreeable,  always 
novel." 
Referring  again  to  his  trip  to  Saga,  he  says: 
"I  wish  I  could  freely  write  about  some  very 
touching  circumstances  in  connection  with  some 
native  believers  for  the  interior  of  the  country; 
but  you  know  my  bump  of  cautiousness  is 
rather  largely  developed,  and  I  really  think  that 
publicity  in  such  matters  would  injure  our,  the 
Master's  cause,  and  jeopardize — under  the  exist- 
ing laws  of  the  empire — the  very  lives  and  prop- 
erty of  those  who  have  entrusted  their  all  to  my 
178 


Trip  to  Osaka 

discretion.  But  I  trust  the  time  is  not  far  off 
when  we  can  *  publish  in  the  papers '  full  numbers 
and  names  for  the  encouragement  of  the  churches. 
Till  then  excuse  me,  unless  I  should  see  you  again 
face  to  face  before  that  time." 

Mr.  Verbeck's  reference  in  this  letter  is  to  his 
baptism  of  Wakasa's  mother  in  her  home  at 
Saga.  Years  afterward,  his  daughter  received 
the  same  rite  at  Nagasaki,  and  now  four  gener- 
ations of  Christians  in  this  one  household  have 
illustrated  the  beauties  of  Christian  holiness  and 
have  strengthened  the  prophecy  of  a  Japan  over 
which  Christ  shall  rule. 


179 


CALLED  TO  THE  CAPITAL 

Mr.  Verbeck  was  now  to  have  his  field  of 
labor  changed  from  Nagasaki,  "the  quietest  and 
safest  place  in  Japan,"  in  the  extreme  south- 
western part  of  the  empire,  to  Tokio,  the  Eastern 
Capital,  (Saikio,  or  Kioto,  being  then  called  the 
Western  Capital),  and  the  nation's  centre.  The 
restoration  of  1868,  with  its  accompanying  revo- 
lution, was  essentially  a  student's  movement,  but 
in  its  origin  it  must  be  referred  to  the  early  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  Many  streams  fed  the 
flood  which  floated  the  Mikado  to  power  and 
made  a  new  nation.  Native  scholars  began 
reexamining  their  ancient  history,  both  on  its 
religious  and  its  political  side.  The  revivalists  of 
pure  Shinto  studied,  wrote,  and  published,  show- 
ing what  Japan  was  before  Chinese  influence 
had  been  felt.  The  Mito  scholars  had  compiled 
their  great  history,  (Dai  Nihon  Shi).  Rai  Sanyo 
had  published  his  volumes,  (Nihon  Guaishi) 
which  were  being  studied  by  Japanese  gentle- 
men in  every  province  and  shaping  their  political 
opinions.  For  a  century  the  intellectual  leaven 
from  the  Dutch  at  Deshima  had  been  helping  to 
transform  the  national  mind.  Foreign  influences 
from  without,  and  especially  the  work  of  Guido 
180 


Called  to  the  Capital 

Verbeck  and  his  co-workers  from  within,  were 
bringing  to  head  and  to  union  all  the  latent 
forces.  The  signs  of  upheaval  and  change  were 
as  manifest  as  in  the  hour  before  earthquakes  or 
blossoms. 

When  in  Kioto,  in  1868,  the  coalition  of  the 
progressive  clans,  in  which  native  and  foreign 
learning  had  been  most  active,  had  been  formed, 
the  decisive  battle  of  Fushimi  had  been  fought, 
the  new  government  organized,  and  the  whole 
train  of  gathered  forces  were  in  momentum 
toward  a  new  Japan,  the  situation  may  be  thus 
roughly  outlined: 

Theoretically  a  union  had  been  made  between 
the  Throne  and  the  People,  by  abolishing  the  old 
and  putting  in  new  intermediaries  who  were  first, 
the  kuge,  or  court  nobles,  men  of  immemorial 
rank  and  high  prestige;  and,  second,  daimios, 
or  landed  noblemen  of  uncertain  abilities;  and 
third,  a  large  number  of  young  men  full  of  eager- 
ness, with  their  eyes  set  on  the  future,  but  with- 
out much  experience  and  in  matters  of  dealing 
with  foreigners  little  better  than  children.  In 
Kioto  these  young  statesmen,  most  of  whom 
had  been  students  under  Mr.  Verbeck,  or  had 
learned  a  little  in  various  ways  from  other  for- 
eigners, were  fortunate  in  having  the  advantage 
of  the  wisdom  and  experience  of  Yokoi  Heishiro. 
This  man,  who  sent  the  first  Japanese  students  to 
America,  was,  among  his  younger  colleagues, 
very  much  as  the  aged  Franklin  was  among  our 
constitutional  fathers  in  Philadelphia  in  1787-9. 

181 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

But  on  coming  to  Tokio,  where  should  the 
young  Japanese  statesmen  get  advisers,  in  order 
to  "reestablish  the  foundations  of  the  empire," 
and  to  deal  and  cope  successfully  with  aliens? 
Whom  could  they  trust  ?  Naturally  they,  that 
is,  several  of  the  leaders  and  scores  of  those 
rising  in  power,  turned  to  their  old  teacher  and 
called  him  to  their  aid.  Mr.  Verbeck,  alert  and 
ready,  breaking  up  his  home  in  Nagasaki,  took 
steamer  for  Yokohama.  We  find  him  in  Tokio 
writing  under  date  of  June  21st,  1870,  and  again 
under  date  of  June  29th,  1870,  where  we  see  him 
under  that  terrible  strain  of  work  which  continued 
for  so  many  years,  surprising  those  who,  like  my- 
self, saw  it  going  on  in  his  own  home.  As  we 
know  well,  the  course  of  convalescence  is  not  a 
straight  one,  nor  is  the  path  suddenly  taken  from 
medisevalism  toward  modern  national  life  one  of 
easy  ascents.  There  was  ebb,  as  well  as  flood, 
in  the  tides  of  political  progress.  Let  us  see  how 
our  hero's  letters  record  them  and  his  own  feel- 
ings. 

Let  Mr.  Verbeck's  own  letter  tell  how  the 
invitation  came  to  him  from  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment to  leave  his  "  few  sheep  in  the  wilder- 
ness "  and  assume  larger  duties,  even  as  it  proved, 
to  the  shaping  of  the  course  of  a  nation: 

"Herewith  you  will  find  two  enclosures. 
One,  a  letter  to  Mr.  Brown,  which  after  perusal  I 
request  you  to  forward  to  him ;  the  other,  as  you 
see,  implying  great  changes  in  regard  to  myself. 
On  the  13th  inst.,  there  came  to  me  a  high  official 
182 


Called  to  the  Capital 

of  the  Imperial  government,  now  located  at  Yedo, 
who  had  been  specially  sent  to  this  port  to  call  me 
to  the  Eastern  Capital,  Yedo.  As  far  as  I  know 
now,  the  chief  object  is  to  get  me  to  establish  a 
university,  or  something  of  the  kind.  I  am  not, 
however,  given  to  understand  much  of  the  detail 
of  the  object  of  my  call ;  only  I  am  assured  that 
some  of  my  former  pupils,  now  in  the  new  gov- 
ernment, are  to  meet  me  there  and  to  arrange  '^ 
matters  satisfactorily.  As  you  see  from  the  en- 
closure, the  government  wants  me  forthwith, 
next  month,  and  I  did  not  feel  justified  to  refuse 
the  invitation.  You  have  no  idea  what  emula- 
tion there  is  in  this  country,  from  the  Ministers 
of  all  nationalities  down  to  the  commonest  sub- 
jects, to  get  in  with  the  men  now  in  power  in 
the  Imperial  government;  besides,  the  Romanists 
exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  for  the  same  ob- 
ject, and  under  these  circumstances  it  would 
never  do  to  let  such  an  opportunity  as  is  now 
offered  me  pass  by  unnoticed  or  unprofited." 
His  answer  was  as  follows: 

"To  Yamaguchi  Hanzo,  Esq., 
"Dear  Sir: 

**  Having  duly  considered  the  proposi- 
tion of  the  Imperial  government  in  regard  to  my 
going  to  the  Eastern  Capital  by  the  middle  of 
next  month,  which  you  kindly  transmitted  to  me, 
I  have  the  pleasure  to  communicate  to  you  that  I 
shall  be  happy  to  accept  the  same." 

And  so,  in  the  tenth  year  of  his  life  in  Japan, 

183 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Verbeck  obeyed,  seeing  "the  city  that  hath  foun- 
dations." "He  went  out,  not  knowing  whither 
he  went."  He  had  faith  and  saw  Providence  in 
the  call.  Like  a  tree  that  in  autumn  strips  its 
branches  in  order  to  wrestle  the  better  with 
winter's  storms,  he  sent  his  family  to  California, 
not  hearing  from  them  for  two  months.  How 
he  left  Nagasaki  is  told  by  his  successor  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Henry  Stout: 

"When  I  first  met  Dr.  Verbeck,  he  was  under 
appointment  to  go  to  Tokio  to  assist  in  establish- 
ing a  school  for  the  Western  languages  and  sci- 
ences, and  so  we  were  together  but  ten  days  as 
associates  of  the  Mission  in  South  Japan.  For 
him,  those  days  were  filled  with  engagements 
with  officials  and  old  friends,  made  up  of  dinners 
and  visits  of  ceremony  for  the  exchange  of  courte- 
sies and  leave-taking,  from  which  little  time  could 
be  found  for  preparation  for  his  going  to  his  new 
position  and  for  his  family's  returning  to  America. 
But  the  morning  of  the  day  the  steamer  was  to 
sail,  was  spent,  from  immediately  after  breakfast 
till  a  late  lunch,  closeted  with  a  Buddhist  priest. 
The  explanation  given  at  the  lunch  was  that  the 
priest  was  eager  to  have  certain  questions  with 
regard  to  the  Truth  answered  before  his  teacher 
should  leave.  Whatever  else  was  neglected,  this 
opportunity  must  not  be  lost.  Lunch  having 
been  served,  hasty  final  preparations  were  made 
for  leaving.  Bearers  were  called  for  the  luggage 
and  the  start  was  about  to  be  made.  But  some 
things  yet  unpacked  must  be  taken.  A  blanket 
184 


Called  to  the  Capital 

was  spread  upon  the  floor  of  the  sitting-room, 
and  upon  it  went  books,  curios,  a  clock,  cush- 
ions, shoes,  a  great  medley  of  the  last  odds  and 
ends  of  things,  when  the  corners  of  the  blanket 
were  drawn  together  and  tied,  making  a  huge 
bundle,  which  was  hoisted  upon  the  back  of  the 
last  man  in  the  line  of  bearers  hastening  to  the 
wharf.  This  was  the  scant  consideration  his 
personal  affairs  received.  No  wonder  he  found 
afterward  that  some  of  his  most  valuable  belong- 
ings had  been  forgotten." 

It  was  a  band  of  students  that  overturned  the 
old  and  set  up  the  new  government.  They  had 
so  adjusted  the  whole  political  machinery  that  the 
throne,  the  pivot  of  national  movement  was  now 
at  Tokio  in  "the  far  East."  Now  seizing  oppor- 
tunity by  the  forelock,  they  were  determined  to 
make  "education  the  basis  of  all  progress." 
Hence  they  wanted  Mr.  Verbeck  at  once.  They 
called  him  even  when  the  city  was  still  in  po- 
litical confusion.  History  was  making  itself  so 
rapidly  that  years  seemed  compressed  in  days. 
He  writes  under  date  of  March  31st,  1869: 

"As  regards  my  own  special  duties  at  Yedo,  I 
do  not  myself  as  yet  exactly  knov^  what  they  are. 
I  can  only  say  that  I  have  full  confidence  in  the 
parties  highly  connected  with  the  Imperial  gov- 
ernment, who  have  been  mainly  instrumental  in 
calling  me  hither;  that  the  ostensible  and  no 
doubt  ultimate  object  of  calling  me  to  come  to 
the  Eastern  Capital  (Yedo)  is  to  get  me  to  estab- 
lish something  like  an  imperial  university;  that 

185 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

next  month  the  Mikado  is  expected  to  come  back 
to  Yedo  from  the  Western  Capital  (Miyako) ;  that 
most  of  the  powerful  daimios  are  also  expected 
here  for  consultation  on  an  improvement  of  the 
constitution  of  the  empire  and  on  a  revision  of 
the  foreign  treaties,  as  well  as  the  probable  send- 
ing of  embassies  to  Europe  and  America;  that 
the  government  wanted  me  to  be  here  previous 
to  these  great  events;  and  that  finally  I  shall 
stand  in  need  of  all  the  wisdom,  grace,  and  hu- 
mility that  can  be  vouchsafed  in  answer  to  prayer. 
Such  seems  to  be  the  program  for  the  summer 
before  me.  I  may  be  mistaken  and  overestimate 
the  probable  events  of  the  year,  at  least  in  so  far 
as  I  may  be  called  upon  to  be  concerned  in  them; 
possibly  I  may  underrate  them.  Whatever  hap- 
pens, I  am  convinced  that  I  am  not  called  here  by 
a  mere  chance,  and  that  I  have  a  work  to  do,  in 
the  doing  which,  being  quite  aware  of  my  in- 
sufficiency, I  look  to  the  Master  for  counsel  and 
guidance.  This  confidence  removes  mountains 
of  difficulty." 

*'My  change  to  Yedo  took  place  at  a  most  un- 
propitious  time.  The  plan  which  was  laid  before 
me  was  that  I  was  to  be  at  Yedo  in  the  spring; 
in  the  summer  all  the  daimios  would  meet  in 
parliament,  and  much  in  regard  to  reforming  the 
laws  of  the  country  would  have  to  be  discussed, 
in  which  I  could  act  as  adviser.  Then  in  the  fall 
or  winter  I  should  enter  on  establishing  a  kind  of 
Imperial  High  School.  With  such  a  program  I 
did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  refuse,  especially  as  it 

186 


Called  to  the  Capital 

came  unsought.  I  always  make  a  wide  distinc- 
tion between  whatever  originates  with  myself 
and  that  which  is  brought  about  without  my 
own  design;  upon  the  former  I  think  and  act 
cautiously,  as  there  may  be  too  much  of  self  in 
it;  in  the  latter  I  sometimes  perhaps  go  ahead  too 
confidingly,  forgetting  that  there  may  be  other 
'  selves '  besides  my  own,  that  may  stand  in  the 
way  of  success  under  the  divine  blessing.  How- 
ever, I  came  and  found  all  things  as  had  been 
represented  and  met  a  cordial  reception  from 
some  of  the  high  government  officers.  But  it  did 
not  last  long;  when  the  northern  daimios  and 
others  of  the  extreme  conservative  party  (anti- 
foreign)  made  their  appearance,  there  came  a 
change  in  the  whole  engine  of  government. 

"Now  the  anti-foreign  party  is  so  strong  that 
even  the  most  liberal  men  are  obliged  temporarily 
to  keep  quiet  till  the  paroxysm  is  past.  There  is 
no  ill  feeling  against  me  personally,  but  there  is 
against  all  foreigners.  It  is  a  temporary  spasm 
in  the  wrong  direction,  such  as  frequently  occurs 
in  any  process  of  transition  and  reform,  and  often 
followed  by  a  proportionate  stride  in  advance; 
yet  it  is  disagreeable  to  be  near  the  centres  of 
action  at  such  times,  and  daily  I  wish  myself 
back  to  Nagasaki,  which  for  several  years  to 
come  will  be  the  quietest  port  in  Japan,  because 
far  removed  from  the  restless  political  centres. 
You  may  say  or  think,  why,  under  the  circum-; 
stances,  do  I  not  go  back  to  my  old  post.  Well,!  ^ff.-*^^ 
I  should  go  at  once,  if  1  could  do  so  without  dis-i    ^   Vc' 

187  ' 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

appointing  some  parties.  But  I  am  actually  at 
work  with  translators  of  Blackstone,  Wheaton, 
and  Political  Economy;  besides  no  less  than 
thirty-six  of  my  former  pupils  came  after  me  to 
Yedo,  and  it  would  not  be  so  easy  for  them  to  go 
back  as  for  me.  So  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to 
go  on  to  the  end  of  the  year,  if  1  can  hold  out  so 
long,  and  then  if  matters  have  not  improved  by 
that  time,  to  go  back  to  my  old  station  to  work 
there  permanently." 

Thus  already,  Mr.  Verbeck  had  begun  that 
work  of  putting  into  the  language  of  Japan  those 
great  compends  and  introductions  to  the  modern 
law  of  civilized  nations  and  of  the  constitutions 
of  western  nations,  which  were  educating  the 
Japanese  to  take  their  place  among  the  great  na- 
tions of  the  world.  We  can  hardly  understand 
why  the  constitution,  given  by  the  Mikado  to  his 
people  in  1889,  was  so  liberal  in  its  provisions,  nor 
how  it  came  to  pass  that  Japan  was  so  soon,  that 
is  in  1898,  received  as  an  equal  in  the  sisterhood  of 
nations,  unless  we  know  what  Verbeck  of  Japan 
was  doing  twenty  and  thirty  years  previously. 

Meanwhile,  without  regarding  wind  or  cloud, 
the  sower  sowed.  Before  the  summer  of  the 
year  1869  had  ended  (on  June  nth),  Mr.  Verbeck 
had  not  only  proposed  (what  took  place  in  1872) 
that  a  great  embassy  composed  of  the  highest 
imperial  officers  should  visit  the  United  States 
and  Europe,  but  had  planned  out  its  organization, 
itinerary,  personnel,  objects,  and  methods  of  in- 
vestigation.    Of  this  we  shall  read  further. 

188 


Called  to  the  Capital 

On  the  2 1st  of  February,  1870,  he  wrote  in  re- 
gard to  the  Bible  in  Japanese,  in  which  work, 
also,  he  was  a  pioneer,  even  as  he  wrought  at  its 
completion: 

"I  have  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  favor  by 
last  mail.  The  principal  topic  in  it  that  requires 
a  direct  answer  is  the  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. What  I  have,  or  rather  got  done  in  this  is 
that  I  have  the  whole  of  the  New  and  a  few 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  translated  by  a  good 
native  scholar  out  of  the  Chinese.  This,  being  a 
translation  of  a  translation  by  one  in  spiritual 
darkness,  is  naturally  a  very  imperfect  work,  yet 
of  some  value,  as  1  found  on  lending  it  out  to  in- 
quirers who  could  not  read  either  English  or 
Chinese.  In  the  same  manner  I  got  translated  a 
number  of  catechisms  and  tracts,  also  lent  out 
several  times  as  above.  Further,  I  must  frankly 
say,  owing  to  my  engagements  in  the  educa- 
tional line,  I  have  not  been  able  to  go;  nor  do  I 
see  any  chance  of  being  able  to  do  so  as  long  as  I 
am  thus  engaged,  for  the  simple  reason  that  in 
my  present  circumstances  fully  one  man's  labor 
is  making  constant  demands  on  my  strength  and 
time. 

"  Even  if  I  had  the  capacity  of  two  men,  I  should 
find  good  use  for  it  all.  It  is  not  for  ease  that  a 
man  would  undertake  a  post  like  mine.  A  sim- 
ple missionary,  being,  it  is  true,  bound  in  con- 
science by  responsibility  to  the  Master  and  His 
Society,  but  at  the  same  time  at  liberty  to  lay  out 
and  use  his  time  and  talents  according  to  the  nat- 

189 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

ural  bent  of  his  genius,  leads  comparatively  an 
independent  life.  With  the  same  double  respon- 
sibility resting  upon  me,  I  in  present  circum- 
stances bind  myself  with  other  parties  for  much 
the  better  part  of  what  remains  available  for 
work  in  every  day's  twenty-four  hours — no  sine- 
cure, indeed.  Sometimes  I  feel  this  so  much  that 
I  have  a  real  longing  for  being,  like  most  mis- 
sionaries, once  more  master  of  my  whole  time 
and  powers,  to  devote  them  to  the  noble  work 
you  referred  to,  which  would  and  ought  to  en- 
gage all  of  a  man's  uninterrupted  time  and  at- 
tention. But  I  do  not  say  this  by  way  of  com- 
plaint, only  of  explanation.  I  have  been  so 
gradually,  and  I  think  providentially  led  into  the 
path  I  have  taken,  that  I  feel  sure  I  am  not  out  of 
the  path  of  duty  in  pursuing  it.  If  I  were  an  in- 
dependent missionary,  just  come  into  the  field, 
and  an  offer  of  a  position  like  mine  were  made 
me  off-hand,  if  such  a  thing  is  supposable,  I  am 
sure  I  should  consider  it  as  one  of  those  openings 
that  sometimes  providentially  present  themselves 
to  a  man,  not  for  him  to  be  entered  on,  but  to  be 
passed  by.  But  my  case,  as  you  know,  is 
different. 
y  "I  have  been  so  gradually  led  toward  my 
present  status,  through  a  long  course  of  years, 
and,  I  wish  to  say  it  with  gratitude  and  in  all 
humility,  have  gained  such  a  name,  and  influence 
in  it,  that  I  should  consider  it  unwise,  according 
to  present  light  on  the  subject,  to  throw  it  up  ex- 
cept for  the  clearest  and  weightiest  reasons.     If  I 

190 


Called  to  the  Capital 

were  not  here,  these  hundreds  of  young  people 
at  the  college  would  be  under  the  influence  of 
men  openly  leading  immoral  lives  and  enemies 
of  God  and  His  Word.  Now  the  students  have 
learned  to  like  and  respect  missionaries,  (I  might 
say  more)  and  the  authorities  of  the  school  ac- 
knowledge that  missionaries  are  their  most  relia- 
ble teachers.  "^ 

"Only  a  few  days  ago  I  had  a  proof  of  this,  be- 
ing requested  to  secure  the  services  of  another 
"missionary"  (named  as  such)  for  the  college; 
and  they  were  glad,  and  so  was  I,  that  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cornes  (of  the 
Presbyterian  mission)  for  one  year,  to  enter  on 
his  duties  next  week.  Besides,  my  position 
brings  me  in  contact  with  people,  high,  low, 
who  otherwise  would  be  quite  beyond  any  reach. 
But  I  do  not  like  writing  so  much  about  self,  and 
it  is  only  necessity  that  induces  me  to  it  for  your 
information.  But  I  may  take  it  then  for  granted, 
I  suppose,  that  with  the  respected  Board  of  Direc- 
tors' permission,  I  am  for  the  present  to  continue 
as  I  am,  at  the  same  time  not  neglecting  to  exert 
according  to  ability  a  direct  influence  for  the  gos- 
pel of  love,  and  always  considering  the  great  aim 
and  end,  the  regeneration  of  this  people. 

"  In  view  of  this  state  of  things  I  have  a  request 
and  proposition  to  make.  Could  not  the  board 
send  out  a  man  for  the  express  purpose  of  becom- 
ing, under  Providence,  a  translator  of  the  Scrip- 
tures into  Japanese,  selected  and  appointed  with  a 
-special  view  to  this  purpose  ?    I  take  the  liberty 

191 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

to  enlarge  a  little  on  this,  speaking  as  one  in  the 
field.  A  man  for  this  purpose,  besides  of  course 
being  a  devoted  man  with  a  warm  heart  for  the 
Master's  work  and  a  good  constitution  for  hard 
labor,  had  best  be  a  young  man  of  studious  hab- 
its, just  out  of  seminary,  who  would  be  content 
to  remain  single  for  the  first  three  or  four  years; 
besides  a  thorough  knowledge  of  Hebrew  and 
Greek,  he  ought  to  have  a  taste  and  talent  for 
linguistic  studies,  though  preaching,  when  he 
comes  to  that,  would  prove  a  good  auxiliary,  he 
ought  studiously  to  abstain  from  everything  else 
that  would  be  calculated  to  draw  him  aside  from 
his  great  life-work,  and  always  look  to  that  chiefly. 
"  You  may  think  that  in  asking  for  such  a  man 
for  Japan,  I  ask  for  the  cream  of  the  land.  True, 
that  is  just  what  is  wanted,  and  is  there  not  mis- 
sionary spirit  enough  in  the  land  to  send  us  tal- 
ents as  well  as  piety,  or  gifts  as  well  as  graces  ? 
It  would  be  painful  to  think  so.  There  is  room 
in  this  and  other  fields  for  any  number  of  willing 
workers  without  any  special  talents  and  acquisi- 
tions, and  they  are  all  heartily  wished  for  and 
welcome;  but  there  is  an  actual  want  of  a  few 
picked  men,  especially  for  the  work  of  transla- 
tion. If  anywhere  there  is  a  place  to  offer  ample 
scope  to  the  noblest  enterprise  and  sanctified 
genius,  it  is  right  here  and  now.  Are  any  kept 
home  by  a  noble  ambition  for  a  wide  influence 
for  good,  here  is  their  place,  here  they  find  a 
great  and  most  promising  field  for  their  holiest 
aspirations.     This  is  no  exaggeration.     It  is  the 

192 


Called  to  the  Capital 

simple  truth,  which,  I  think  if  well  understood 
by  our  promising  young  men  ought  to  go  far  to 
lead  some  chosen  man  among  them  to  throw  up 
all  other  plans  and  prospects,  to  devote  himself 
without  reservation  to  the  Lord's  cause  in  this 
particular  land. 

*'  But,  dear  brother,  I  leave  this  matter  now  with 
you.  I  have  been  writing  nearly  all  through  the 
night  and  it  is  going  toward  the  morning.  I 
never  have  time  to  write  long  letters  during  the 
day.  I  would  only  add  privately  that,  if  such  a 
suitable  man  could  be  found  and  sent  out,  I 
would — while  I  keep  my  present  post — give  him 
rooms  and  board  free,  and  gladly  bind  myself  to 
pay  about  a  quarter  of  his  annual  expenses.  At 
the  beginning  of  his  career  I  think  I  might  be  of 
much  assistance  to  him  in  his  studies  and  by  gen- 
eral advice,  though  I  believe  in  a  man's  working 
most  profitably  according  to  his  own  conscien- 
tious convictions. 

"I  have  no  later  news  about  the  converted 
priest  of  whom  I  wrote  you  that  he  was  arrested 
early  in  January.  We  pray  that  the  God  whom 
he  loves  may  save  and  strengthen  him  in  his  sore 
trials.  While  at  one  end  of  the  country  there  is 
temporary  persecution,  at  our  end  there  is  quite 
a  demand  for  the  Scriptures,  and  I  have  been  able 
to  dispose  of  quite  a  number  in  Chinese,  English, 
and  French. 

"Dear  brother,  please  remember  us  and  ours 
at  the  throne  of  grace,  and  believe  me,  yours 
faithfully  G.  F.  Verbeck." 

193 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

We  must  now  take  up  the  thread  of  political 
narrative  and  show  the  framework  of  events 
amid  which  this  toiler  on  the  foundations  of  New 
Japan  kept  perseveringly  on.  It  was  like  work- 
ing with  sword  and  trowel  as  we  shall  see. 

After  the  formation  of  the  confederacy  of  the 
northern  clans,  a  battle  between  their  adherents 
and  those  in  Yedo  was  fought  July  4,  1868,  dur- 
ing which  the  great  temple  at  Uyeno  was  burned 
to  the  ground.  This  was  the  day  and  hour, 
when  the  great  Fukuzawa  "intellectual  father  of 
one-half"  of  young  Japan,  decided  not  to  take  up 
sword  and  gun  and  go  to  the  battle,  but  to  sit 
down  with  a  few  companions  to  the  study  of 
Wayland's  Moral  Science. 

The  theatre  of  war  shifted  to  the  north  at 
Wakamatsu,  where  the  castle  of  Aidzu  after  a 
thirty  days'  siege,  was  besieged  and  taken,  No- 
vember 6th.  On  the  7th  of  November,  1869,  the 
Mikado's  birthday  was  celebrated  throughout  the 
empire  and  the  chronological  era  was  changed  to 
that  of  Meiji,  or  enlightened  civilization.  It  was 
made  a  rule  for  all  time,  thus  putting  an  end  to 
much  confusion,  that  for  each  reign  there  should 
be  one  chronological  period.  In  response  to  a 
memorial  of  Okubo,  the  imperial  palanquin  or 
"Phoenix  Car"  at  last  moved  overland  and  was 
carried  over  the  Hakone  mountain  pass  to  Yedo, 
not  to  expel,  but  to  cultivate  friendship  with  for- 
eigners. The  name  of  the  City  of  the  Bay  Door, 
Yedo,  was  changed  to  Tokio,  or  Eastern  Capital, 
and  on  the  26th  of  November  the  Son  of  Heaven 
194 


Called  to  the  Capital 

slept  in  the  castle  of  the  usurpers,  whose  power 
had  vanished.  Then  all  men  saw  that  he  had 
resumed  his  rightful  place.  The  last  Tycoon  had 
returned  to  his  ancestral  seats  in  Shidzuoka  and 
the  old  notions  of  a  "  spiritual "  and  a  "tem- 
poral "  emperor  must  now  vanish  like  the  morn- 
ing mist.  On  the  ist  of  January,  1869,  the 
foreign  quarter  of  Tokio  as  well  as  the  city  of 
Niigata  on  the  western  coast,  were  opened  to 
trade. 

The  emperor  returned  to  Kioto  to  marry 
Haruko,  a  daughter  of  the  princely  family  of  the 
house  of  Ichijo,  on  the  9th  of  February,  on  which 
day  the  neutrality  proclamations  were  with- 
drawn. This  last  action  enabled  the  American 
minister,  Van  Valkenburg,  to  hand  over  to  the 
new  government  the  ironclad  steam  ram  Stone- 
wall, which,  reinforcing  the  fleet  of  the  loyal 
navy,  quickly  made  an  end  of  the  wooden  war 
vessels  and  of  the  very  short-lived  republic  in- 
augurated by  Enomoto,  a  brilliant  Japanese  who 
had  been  educated  in  Holland,  but  who  has,  for 
thirty  years  past,  as  a  statesman  of  marked  abili- 
ties, been  a  most  loyal  servant  of  the  emperor. 

During  the  same  month  the  court  noble 
Iwakura,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  Junior 
Premier,  resigned  the  office  of  prime  minister  on 
the  plea  of  ill  health,  but  while  giving  up  the 
former  he  held  the  latter  office.  Though  not  in 
form,  he  was  in  reality  the  chief  officer  of  that 
government  which  had  been  established  on  the 
theory  of  a  closer  union  of  the  Throne  with  the 

195 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

people,  the  intermediary  being  a  kuge  or  court 
noble  of  bluest  blood  and  of  immemorial  lineage. 
To  those  who  knew  the  political  methods  in 
vogue,  Iwakura  simply  followed  the  usual 
fashion,  which  was  to  lose  the  form,  in  order  to 
gain  the  substance.  Nearly  all  offices  in  old 
Japan  were  like  our  antiquated  frigates  and  ships- 
of-the-line,  which  had  painted  and  gilded  figure- 
head at  the  prow,  near  to,  corresponding  with, 
or  representing  the  name  of  the  ship,  while  the 
real  commander  and  executor  stood  on  deck  or 
was  invisible  in  the  cabin. 

Indeed,  in  America,  it  was  more  than  once 
noted  that  when  the  young  hermits  of  Japan 
stepped  out  of  their  clogs  and  sandals  into  the 
tight  boots  of  civilization,  their  favorite  amuse- 
ment in  hotels  was  first  to  climb  the  stairway  and 
then  to  descend  on  an  elevator.  They  enjoyed 
the  paradox  and  the  sensation  connected  with  it. 
So  Iwakura  and  many  men  like  him,  who  pre- 
ferred real  power,  usually  descended  on  what 
/was  really  an  elevator.  It  is  highly  probable  that 
Mr.  Verbeck  took  hints  from  what  he  saw  and 
[gladly  put  himself  in  harmony  with  his  environ- 
ment— remained  in  shadow,  in  order  to  increase 
light. 

By  the  end  of  June,  1869,  the  war  came  en- 
tirely to  an  end.  One  of  the  purposes  for  which 
Iwakura  had  taken  a  lower  office  or  rank,  in 
order  to  carry  out  a  great  scheme,  was  now 
manifest  to  those  able  to  read  the  meaning  of  the 
signs  of  the  times. 

196 


Called  to  the  Capital 

In  reality  the  great  restoration  of  1868  was  in- 
augurated and  carried  through  mainly  by  a  com- 
mittee of  four  men,  Iwakura,  Kido,  Okubo,  and 
Okuma,  who,  seeing  the  need  both  of  money, 
unity,  and  power,  and  the  necessity  of  a  strong 
front  before  foreigners  and  the  world,  resolved 
to  abolish  feudalism  and  have  real  national  union. 
The  daimios  of  Satsuma,  Tosa,  Choshiu,  and 
.Hizen,  leading  in  this  patriotic  purpose,  yielded 
up  their  quasi-sovereign  rights,  and  handed  over 
the  lists  of  their  possessions  and  retainers  to  the 
emperor,  that  he  should  do  with  them  what  he 
would.  As  usual,  the  figureheads  knew  little  of 
what  was  going  on,  but  the  able  men  of  inferior 
rank  carried  through  the  project.  The  memorial 
penned  by  Kido  was  published  in  the  6fficiai 
gazette  on  the  5th  of  March,  1869.  The  com- 
position is  rich  in  that  peculiar  oriental  rhetoric 
which  is  dominated  by  the  Chinese  classics  and 
is  overweighted  with  those  peculiar  expressions 
of  Japanese  orthodoxy,  which  it  is  even  yet 
dangerous  in  Japan  to  challenge.  The  history  of 
the  empire  is  also  given  in  brief  epitome.  Here 
are  some  of  the  sentences: 

*'Now  that  men  are  seeking  for  an  entirely 
new  government  the  Great  Body  (the  Imperial 
Government)  and  the  Great  Strength  (the  Em- 
peror) must  neither  be  lent  nor  borrowed." 

**  The  place  where  we  live  is  the  emperor's 
land  and  the  food  which  we  eat  is  grown  by  the 
emperor's  men.  How  can  we  make  it  our  own  ? 
We  now  reverently  offer  up  the  list  of  our  pos- 

197 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

sessions  and  men,  with  the  prayer  that  the  em- 
peror will  take  good  measures  for  rewarding 
those  to  whom  reward  is  due  and  for  taking  from 
those  to  whom  punishment  is  due.  Let  the  Im- 
perial orders  be  issued  for  offering  and  remodel- 
ing the  territories  of  the  various  clans.  Let  the 
civil  and  penal  code,  the  military  laws,  down  to 
the  rules  for  uniform  and  the  construction  of 
engines  of  war,  all  proceed  from  the  emperor; 
that  all  the  affairs  of  the  empire  great  and  small 
be  referred  to  him.  After  this,  when  the  internal 
relations  of  the  country  shall  be  upon  a  true  foot- 
ing, the  empire  will  be  able  to  take  its  place  side 
by  side  with  the  other  countries  of  the  world. 
This  is  now  the  most  urgent  duty  of  the  emperor, 
as  it  is  that  of  his  servants  and  children.  Hence 
it  is  that  we,  in  spite  of  our  own  folly,  daring  to 
offer  up  our  humble  expressions  of  loyalty,  upon 
which  we  pray  that  the  brilliance  of  the  heavenly 
sun  may  shine,  with  fear  and  reverence  bow  the 
head  and  do  homage,  ready  to  lay  down  our 
lives  in  proof  of  our  faith." 

The  answer  from  the  Throne  was  that  when 
the  emperor  returned  to  Tokio  that  this  matter  of 
reorganizing  the  empire  would  be  publicly  de- 
bated in  council. 

As  matter  of  fact,  Mr.  Verbeck,  when  asked 
^by  Iwakura  concerning  national  policy  advised 
that  everything  possible,  even  to  army,  navy,  and 
administrative  systems  of  post,  lighthouses, 
education,  etc.,  like  those  in  the  West  be  im- 
mediately formed. 

198 


Called  to  the  Capital 

That  Kido  was  the  author  of  this  document, 
there  can  be  little  doubt,  but  that  Iwakura  backed 
by  Okubo  was  the  chief  force  in  its  promulga- 
tion, can  hardly  be  doubted.  In  Mr.  Verbeck's 
parlor  in  Tokio,  I  was  present  at  an  interview  be- 
tween himself  and  Mr.  Verbeck  and  heard 
Iwakura  say,  concerning  the  measure  and  the 
expectation,  that  coercion  of  some  of  the  daimios 
would  be  necessary,  "We  were  prepared  to 
shed  blood  and  expected  to  do  it." 

Yet  the  bloodshed  was  not  necessary.  Ex- 
ample being  so  much  more  than  precept,  the 
action  of  the  great  clans  was  quickly  imitated  by 
the  smaller  ones.  In  less  than  six  weeks,  by  the 
i6th  of  April,  1 18  out  of  276  daimios  of  Japan  had 
published  memorials  requesting  permission  to  re- 
store their  lands  and  registers  to  the  emperor,  and 
before  many  months  the  number  reached  241. 
The  daimios  were  returned  to  their  own  terri- 
tories. 

It  was  a  great  and  inspiring  example  to  the 
other  court  nobles  and  to  the  imperial  families, 
when  Mr.  Iwakura  (well  named  Rock  Throne) 
having  long  known  and  trusted  Mr.  Verbeck  and 
consulted  him  on  the  gravest  affairs  of  state, 
now,  under  his  direction,  sent  his  two  sons, 
Asahi  and  Tatsu,  to  America  for  education.  In 
his  letter,  Mr.  Verbeck  turns  the  Japanese  kalei- 
doscope for  us,  showing  the  amazing  changes 
during  the  decade. 


199 


/ 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Yedo,  April  2\,  1870. 
"Rev.  J.  M.  Ferris,  D.  D.,  New  York, 

"Dear  Brother: — Last  mail  came  so  un- 
awares upon  me  that  I  lost  all  chance  of  writing 
you,  if  the  few  lines  are  excepted  that  I  sent  you 
in  behalf  of  the  five  young  men,  Asahi,  Tatsu, 
and  their  companions,  who  started  for  New 
York  by  that  mail.  The  fact  is  in  the  daytime 
every  available  moment  is  so  taken  up  by  all  sorts 
of  engagements,  principally  teaching,  as  is  also  a 
good  part  every  evening,  that  only  the  quiet  of 
the  night  is  left  me  for  writing  anything  like  a 
proper  letter.  The  young  men  above  mentioned, 
1  trust,  reached  their  destination  in  safety,  and  are 
probably  now  deep  in  their  exercises  and  studies. 
They  are  an  exceedingly  interesting  party,  and 
will  prove  to  be  eminently  useful  to  their  country, 
when  once  they  return  with  the  advantages  of  a 
good  education.  In  the  meantime  I  am  sure  they 
will  be  liked  by  all  who  know  them  on  account 
of  their  real  amiableness,  docility,  and  gentle 
manners.  May  the  Lord  bless  them  and  lead 
them  to  a  purer  faith  and  higher  love. 

"As  I  have  nothing  of  special  note  to  com- 
municate this  time,  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  you  a 
brief  sketch  of  some  features  of  progress  made 
by  this  wonderful  people  in  the  space  of  about 
the  past  ten  years.  The  Japanese,  ten  years  ago, 
were  in  nearly  all  respects  in  the  same  primitive 
condition  so  quaintly  described  in  the  musty 
pages  of  old  Kaempfer,  purely  native,  in  ideas  as 
well  as  in  appearance.  The  few  articles  and  little 
300 


Called  to  the  Capital 

information  brought  by  the  annual  Dutch  ship  of 
the  hundred  years  preceding  the  reopening  of 
the  country  found  their  way  almost  exclusively 
into  the  palaces  of  the  emperors  and  princes,  the 
people  at  large  realizing  little  more  than  the 
highly  prized  (and  priced)  Dutch  vermifuge.  In 
the  midst  of  this  state  of  things  came  Commo- 
dore Perry  with  his  bundle  of  huge  keys  to  un- 
lock and  open  these  secluded,  ocean-bound  ports, 
and  well  did  he  perform  his  work.  Then  fol- 
lowed the  fleets  of  the  other  great  maritime  pow- 
ers, and  after  that  the  merchantmen  of  the  chief 
trading  nations  bringing  merchandise  from  all  the 
markets  of  the  world. 

"  Yet  the  country  cannot  be  said  to  have  been 
fairly  opened  for  trade  and  foreign  residence  un- 
til about  ten  years  ago,  in  the  very  year  that  your 
missionaries  were  first  sent  hither.  Even  then, 
at  first,  we  were  far  from  enjoying  free  inter- 
course with  the  people,  for  it  was  yet  the  time  of 
official  interference,  espionage,  and  suspicion 
which,  indeed,  being  the  old  custom  and  inveter- 
ate habit  of  the  nation,  could  hardly  be  expected 
to  be  shaken  off  at  once. 

"Now  the  people  had  a  chance,  if  not  a  fair 
one,  to  see  and  learn  to  know  the  foreigner,  and 
his  merchandise,  and  forthwith  they  took  kindly 
to  them  both.  The  sight  produced  the  desire  of 
possession,  and  so  things  went  on  till  now  the 
open  ports  and  their  vicinity  teem  with  shops  retail- 
ing foreign  merchandise;  and  foreign  cloths,blank- 
ets  (worn  as  shawls),  flannels,  calicos,  hats,  boots 
201 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

and  shoes,  watches,  umbrellas,  and  fancy  articles 
are  worn  and  used,  in  some  form  or  other,  by  all 
classes,  from  the  daimio  to  the  poor  "betto"  or 
groom.  Besides  the  stores  kept  by  foreigners, 
there  are  at  Yokohama  and  Yedo  alone  many  hun- 
dreds of  native  shops  selling  foreign  goods.  A 
large  portion  of  the  middle  and  upper  classes — at 
least  the  male  portion — dress  entirely  in  our  style. 
Even  old  men,  too  old  to  sport  the  new  costume, 
look  with  delight  upon  their  little  grandsons 
dressed  in  hats,  boots,  and  what  belongs  be- 
tween, and  take  pride  to  show  off  in  the  streets 
their  **  young  Japan  "  thus  apparelled.  The  Army 
and  Navy  are  remodelled  on  European  and  Ameri- 
can systems  in  organization,  arms,  and  uniforms, 
down  to  the  common  trumpet,  drum,  and  fife. 
We  have  several  lines  of  stages,  hackney- 
coaches,  and  two  steamers  running  between 
Yedo  and  Yokohama,  natives  and  foreigners 
competing  with  each  other  on  both  elements. 
On  the  same  route  there  is  a  telegraph  in  opera- 
tion, and  a  contract  is  said  to  have  been  made  for 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  here  to  Osaa. 
There  are  two  extensive  foundries  with  foreign 
machinery  in  the  country,  and  several  docks.  As 
to  matters  of  diet,  beef,  the  abomination  of 
Buddhism,  begins  largely  to  be  consumed,  and 
bread  is  much  liked.  You  would  be  a  good  deal 
surprised,  if,  in  the  very  heart  of  the  capital,  you 
passed  by  some  of  our  ** noiseless"  sewing  ma- 
chines rattling  away  with  a  will!  But  so  far  all 
is  material. 

202 


Called  to  the  Capital 

"The  desire  for  possession  is  by  no  means 
limited  to  the  mere  material  part  of  our  civili- 
zation. It  is  true,  there  are  many,  a  great  many, 
who  fancy  that  a  pair  of  high-heeled  boots  and 
a  suit  of  clothes  go  a  good  way  to  raise  them  in 
the  scale  of  beings.  But  there  are  also  a  good 
many  who,  without  change  of  costumes,  look 
deeper  and  desire  something  more  potent  than 
appearance.  There  is  a  wide  spread  demand,  an 
actual  thirst  in  many,  for  western  learning  and 
science.  Here  is  our  college  with  its  hundreds 
of  English,  French,  and  German  scholars;  besides 
this  there  are  several  private  schools,  carried  on 
by  natives,  for  the  study  of  chiefly  English;  and 
there  are  numbers  of  students  who  study  inde- 
pendent of  any  school  whatever,  by  books  and 
their  own  efforts  only.  Then  there  are  hundreds 
more  at  the  other  open  ports. 

"There  are  three  large  hospitals  and  medical 
colleges,  in  which  eight  foreign  physicians  are 
engaged.  Western  medical  science  has  nearly 
quite  superseded  the  old  Chinese  system  of  quacks 
and  immense  doses  of  drugs. 

"Newspapers  are  pubHshed  in  several  places, 
with  their  columns  of  'Foreign'  and  *  Tele- 
grams,' clipped  and  translated  from  our  standard 
home  papers.  Book  stores  selling  English  and 
French  books  are  seen  in  many  places,  and  the 
quantity  of  books  imported  is  prodigious. 

"All  these  and  many  more  things  are  but  the 
earnest  expression  of  this  thirst  for  western 
knowledge.    And  many  brave  young  men  have 

203 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

left  their  pleasant  homes  to  satisfy  abroad,  in  our 
own  and  English  schools  and  colleges,  that  thirst 
more  thoroughly  than  it  is  possible  for  them  to 
do  at  home,  and  nobly  to  serve  their  country,  on 
their  return,  with  the  acquirements  thus  bravely 
won.  On  the  first  opening  of  the  country,  of 
course,  mere  language  was  the  chief  object  of 
study.  Gradually  the  object  has  become  the 
means  for  further  researches,  so  that  now  law, 
political  economy,  and  even  intellectual  and 
moral  science  are  embraced.  Nor  have  the 
efforts  so  far  made  been  without  fruit.  Several 
good  books  have  already  been  translated  and 
published  by  native  scholars,  and  many  more  are 
to  follow,  so  that  even  those  whose  age  and 
circumstances  preclude  their  learning  foreign 
languages  are  thus  enabled  to  get  an  idea  of  our 
useful  literature.  At  present  there  is  being  trans- 
lated and  published  by  our  college,  from  the 
French,  the  *Code  Napoleon,'  from  the  English, 
'Perry's  Political  Economy,'  and  from  the 
Dutch,  '  Humboldt's  Cosmos.'  Of  the  former 
two,  some  parts  have  been  already  published. 
It  is  a  real  pleasure  to  hear  a  man  say:  *I  just 
read  the  first  volume  of  "Buckle's  History  of 
Civilization,"  and  am  going  on  to  the  second;' 
or  to  have  a  man  come  and  request  you  to  help 
him  solve  some  hard  passage  in  'Wayland's 
Moral  Science.' 

*'And  of  all  this  there  was  next  to  nothing 
only  ten  years  ago !    What !  is  this  not  progress  ? 
Even  those  inveterate  philosophers  of  the  old 
204 


Called  to  the  Capital 

school  who,  in  the  midst  of  an  age  of  chemical 
analysis,  have  stuck  like  leeches  to  four  elements 
till  there  is  not  a  drop  of  life-blood  left  in  their 
philosophy,  and  who  reduce  all  things  material 
or  immaterial — quite  irrespective  of  their  true 
nature — into  just  as  many  elements  as  will  agree 
with  the  number  of  the  fmgers  of  a  hand  or  of 
two, — even  those  bigots  begin  to  feel  the  general 
impulse  and  come  forth  to  the  light  of  day  to  get 
some  true  life,  some  real  knowledge.  Some 
celebrated  ones  of  this  class  came  to  me  the  other 
day,  saying  that  Japan  was  created  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  heavenly  bodies,  for  as  there 
were  sixteen  planets,  so  Japan  had  originally 
been  created  in  sixteen  distinct  parts.  When  I 
told  them  that  there  never  were  exactly  sixteen 
planets  and  gave  them  a  correct  list,  their  faces 
grew  rather  longer  than  before,  and  I  actually 
believe  they  doubted  themselves  the  harmony 
they  had  gloried  in  so  much,  as  no  doubt  many 
had  done  before  them,  but  fewer  will  do  hereafter. 
"Of  course,  such  things  are  transacted  in  a 
spirit  of  gentleness  and  kindness;  but  in  recon- 
sidering that  men  capable  of  better  things  should 
spend  their  precious  powers  and  time  (to  say  the 
least)  in  trying  to  harmonize  the  distinct  parts  of 
their  country  (which  never  had  sixteen  such  dis- 
tinct parts)  with  the  sixteen  planets  of  our  solar 
system  (which  never  had  just  sixteen  planets), 
one  cannot  help  being  provoked  at  the  waste  and 
stupidity.  And  yet  much  of  the  old  philosophy 
of  the  country  is  of  a  similar  nature.    But  let 

205 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

them  come  out  of  their  darkness  to  the  light,  let 
the  spell  be  broken,  and  forthwith  they  are  fine, 
clever  men. 

"  But  there  has  been  progress  on  a  large  scale 
in  departments  yet  unmentioned.  The  time 
would  fail  me  to  enlarge  on  government  re- 
forms, the  suppression  of  rebellion,  the  pacifi- 
cation of  internal  dissensions,  the  development 
of  an  extensive  commerce  properly  so-called, 
etc.  But  there  have  been,  no  doubt,  some 
drawbacks,  some  disadvantages  to  balance  the 
advantages.  So  there  have  been,  perhaps, 
many.  Yet  the  general  movement  during  the 
past  ten  years  has  been  one  of  unmistakable, 
remarkable  progress,  in  spite  of  all  drawbacks. 
And  those  who  ask  for  more,  ought  to  remember 
that  whatever  of  progress  there  has  thus  far  been 
made,  has  been  made  as  it  were  during  plough- 
ing time;  after  that  comes  the  blessed  seed  time 
and  finally  the  full  harvest  home.  God  hasten 
the  time ! 

"  But  dear  old  brother,  I  come  to  a  close  and 
only  hope  that  in  the  above  there  may  be  some- 
thing of  interest.  Last  mail  I  did  not  have  news 
of  you,  so  I  am  sure  of  some  this  time.  Re- 
member us  and  our  work  in  prayer,  and  believe 
me.  Yours  faithfully, 

''G.  F.  Verbeck." 

Mr.  Verbeck  found  that  earthquakes  were  more 
frequent  in  the  north  than  in  the  south.  On  May 
21,  1870,  he  wrote: 

206 


Called  to  the  Capital 

"  The  ground  under  us  is  very  shaky  this  sea- 
son and  the  northern  parts  of  the  country  are  go- 
ing through  some  severe  convulsions,  physically. 
A  few  nights  ago  we  were  waked  up  (at  three 
o'clock)  by  a  tremendous  shock,  which  kept  our 
house  rocking  and  creaking  for  about  a  minute 
in  an  appalling  manner;  yet  by  our  good  Lord's 
mercy,  no  harm  was  done.  The  earth's  crust  is 
evidently  not  so  firm  in  this  part  of  its  surface  as 
might  be  desirable  for  comfort.  The  waters  in 
some  of  the  thermal  springs  are  said  to  have  risen 
above  their  usual  level,  and  there  is  even  a  rumor 
of  a  new  volcano  having  been  opened  in  the 
northwest  of  the  country. 

"  The  country  is  quiet  at  present,  innovations 
and  reforms  are  being  carried  on  in  a  silent  un- 
assuming way,  and  the  general  prospect  is  prom- 
ising. As  might  be  expected,  there  is  yet  a 
numerous  and  powerful  party  holding  to  what 
they  consider  as  *  the  good  old  times  '  and  oppos- 
ing reform  and  progress,  so  that  those  who 
otherwise  would  be  willing  and  able  to  push  for- 
ward have  their  hands  tied.  The  bulk  of  the 
people  sit  as  yet  in  the  thickest  darkness  and 
know  nothing  that  is  good.  Yet  with  all  this 
there  is  a  general  awakening  and  a  desire  for 
larger  knowledge,  and  as  the  younger  generation 
grows  into  power  we  may  look  for  great  changes. 
Among  these  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  will  see 
that  His  gospel  of  love,  holiness,  and  salvation 
shall  come  in  for  its  share,  and  among  much  that 
is  merely  on  the  surface  there  shall  be  some 

207 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

deeper  work.  In  the  meantime  our  plain  duty 
seems  to  be  perseveringly  to  labor  and  pray, 
while  we  practically  wait  and  hope." 

On  June  21,  1870,  he  wrote: 

**What  with  six  hours  daily  teaching  at  col- 
lege, several  scholars  at  home,  and  many  other 
calls  on  my  time,  I  hardly  ever  get  time  in  the 
daytime  to  sit  down  to  write  without  interrup- 
tion. This  fall  some  more  young  men  are  com- 
ing to  join  the  New  Brunswick  band.  I  hope 
they  are  all  doing  well  and  being  educated  to  be- 
come eminently  useful  to  their  country. 

*'A11  is  quiet  in  this  country.  Foreign  dress, 
foreign  wares,  and  foreign  science  are  daily  gain- 
ing favor  among  the  people,  and  a  few  years 
more  will  make  great  changes.  Our  religion, 
alas,  is  still  proscribed,  but  cannot  possibly  re- 
main so  long.  Our  trust  in  the  Lord  is  that  all 
these  changes  are  not  and  that  we  labor  not  in 
vain. 

*'At  last,  [July  21,  1870]  I  have  got  an  order 
for  young  men  from  home  to  come  out  as 
teacher,  a  thing  I  had  long  wished  for  and  that 
may  go  on  if  once  introduced.  But  in  the  carry- 
ing out  I  have  again  to  rely  entirely  on  your 
kindness.  What  is  required  at  present  is  a  young 
man  to  teach  principally  chemistry  and  natural 
philosophy  and  a  doctor-surgeon. 

"The  place  is  far  in  the  interior  [city  of  Fukui, 
province  of  Echizen]  and  he  would  never  see  a 
foreigner  outside  of  his  colleagues,  except  once 
a  year,   when  in  the    summer  vacation   (of  a 

308 


Called  to  the  Capital 

month)  he  could  go  for  a  fortnight  to  one  of  the 
open  ports;  this  is  in  the  contract.  His  col- 
leagues are  to  be  two ;  one  of  whom  [Mr.  Alfred 
Lucy]  I  have  sent  thither  early  this  month. 

"  He  will  stay  a  few  days  or  a  fortnight  with 
me  before  proceeding  to  the  interior.  As  I  take 
whomever  you  think  fit  to  send,  he  may  consider 
himself  engaged  whenever  you  make  the  agree- 
ment to  come  sure  between  you  and  himself. 

"It  is  safer  by  far  in  the  interior  than  at  Yedo 
where  we  live,  as  you  are  among  the  subjects  of 
one  prince  who  maintains  strict  order  in  his  own 
country,  only  for  a  lady  it  would  hardly  do  yet. 
The  young  man  ought  to  be  smart  (to  use  a  com- 
mon word),  kind-hearted,  well  up  in  his  special 
branches  and  generally,  especially  in  chemistry, 
of  spirit  enough  to  rely  on  himself,  and  particu- 
larly a  man  of  firm  and  practical  piety.  The 
temptations  in  this  country  are  fearful,  and  many 
a  one  has  fallen  who  would  have  been  safe  as 
iron  at  home.  In  fact  very  few  indeed,  outside 
of  ministers  and  missionaries,  that  have  not 
fallen.  Yet  I  would  rather  this  young  man  were 
not  a  '  Reverend,'  though  if  he  be  it  is  also  right. 
We  will  hope  and  pray  that  the  right  man  will 
be  brought  forward  by  the  Guide  of  all,  and  all 
will  go  well. 

"As  to  the  doctor,  his  terms  are  the  same,  ex- 
cept his  salary  which  is  to  be  l3,6oo.  But  there 
is  one  condition  in  the  contract  that  makes  me 
fear  that  you,  with  best  will,  may  not  be  able  to 
find  in  New  York,  though  I  wish  you  could  and 

209 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

it  may  be  you  can.  He  is  to  be  a  Dutchman,  a 
Hollander;  or  if  not,  be  able  to  read  Dutch  as  a 
real  Hollander.  In  case  no  Dutchman  is  to  be 
found,  a  German  who  knows  the  Dutch  language 
pretty  well,  would  do.  Can  such  a  one  be  found 
with  you  ?  If  not,  I  must  send  to  Holland  for  one. 
The  doctor's  prospects  in  Japan  are  always  good. 

"If  you  can  find  the  proper  men,  please  let 
them  come  on  with  as  little  delay  as  possible. 
We  are  waiting  for  them.  I  shall  make  it  so 
that  no  eventuality  to  myself  shall  effect  the  cer- 
tainty of  their  engagements.  All  they  have  to 
do  is  to  report  themselves  to  me  at  Yedo,  or  I 
shall  meet  them  at  Yokohama." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Verbeck  was 
called  on  to  decide  what  language  and  system 
were  to  be  Japan's  medium  of  medical  culture. 
The  Rev.  G.  Ogimi  wrote  in  1898,  how  in  1870, 
the  native  doctors  were  asking, 

**  *  In  the  future  what  shall  be  the  language  of 
our  science  of  medicine  ? '  There  was  such  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  that  no  one  could  decide. 
Then  the  doctor  (Verbeck)  memorialized  the 
government  to  the  effect  that  so  far  as  medicine 
is  concerned  there  is  undoubtedly  no  better  way 
than  to  employ  German.  The  Council  of  State 
in  accordance  with  this  advice  adopted  the  Ger- 
man science  of  medicine;  and  the  result  is  the 
prosperity  of  the  science  as  it  is  to-day.  So  our 
medical  fraternity  owes  a  great  deal  to  the  doctor, 
says  Surgeon-General  Ishiguro." 

This  eminent  officer  who  was  in  charge  of  the 
21a 


Called  to  the  Capital 

Japanese  army  and  the  military  operations  in 
China  and  Korea,  during  the  war  of  1894-95  also 
wrote  in  the  Tenchijin,  a  Tokio  newspaper,  after 
attending  Dr.  Verbeck's  funeral: 

"Although  I  was  not  in  any  way  an  intimate 
friend,  yet  I  felt  much  regret  when  a  paper  in- 
formed me  of  Dr.  Verbeck's  death.  I  was  not  in- 
vited to  attend  the  funeral,  but  I  went  to  the  church 
and  attended  anyhow.  Toward  the  year  1870 
or  so,  many  agreed  to  the  opinion  that  Japanese 
education  should  be  English  and  American,  and 
that  English  and  American  teachers  should  be 
employed.  In  those  times,  Drs.  Iwasa,  Sagara, 
Hasegawa,  and  I  held  the  view  that  the  science 
of  medicine  should  be  German.  How  we  were 
ridiculed  and  criticised  by  the  public!  Dr.  Ver- 
beck  was  already  in  those  times  respected  and 
believed  in  by  the  people.  One  day,  Dr.  Sagara 
got  an  interview  with  him,  and  talked  about  the 
necessity  of  enforcing  our  opinion  about  the 
science  of  medicine.  With  our  view  this  Ameri- 
can teacher  expressed  his  sympathy.  It  was 
through  his  advice  to  the  government  that  Ger- 
man professors  of  this  science  came  to  be  em- 
ployed. The  present  prosperity  of  the  science 
owes  a  great  deal  to  the  deceased  doctor.  This 
is  the  reason  why  I  attended  his  funeral." 

On  application  being  made  to  the  German  Em- 
peror, two  of  the  most  eminent  representatives 
of  the  science  and  art  preservative  of  human  life, 
Messrs.  Muller  and  Hoffman  came  to  Japan,  serv- 
ing long  and  honorably.  I  remember  being  with 
211 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

them  when  we  were  together  given  audience  of 
the  Mikado.  Dr.  Muller  laughingly  remarked  to 
me  that  he  had  attended  emperors  of  three  colors, 
white,  black,  and  brown,  in  Prussia,  Africa,  and 
Japan.  How  honorably  German  science  is  re- 
garded in  Japan  may  be  seen  in  the  rewards  and 
dignities  conferred  upon  Dr.  Baelz  in  May,  1900, 
during  the  marriage  of  the  crown  prince,  the 
doctor  receiving  the  decoration  of  the  first  class 
of  the  sacred  treasure. 

New  openings  for  teachers  presented  them- 
selves. Concerning  Higo,  Mr.  Verbeck  wrote 
August  20,  1870: 

"  Numagawa  is  to  write  to  his  brother  about  it, 
too,  and  by  next  mail  will  write  to  you.  I  feel 
backward  about  troubling  you  with  this  new  re- 
quest and  fear  I  shall  exhaust  your  patience;  but 
I  really  have  no  one  else  to  whom  I  could  or 
would  entrust  such  matters  of  importance,  and 
yet  not  within  the  direct  line  of  your  oifice.  I 
consider,  however,  that  this  placing  of  good 
Christian  men  in  various  parts  of  the  empire  will 
operate  as  a  very  useful  auxiliary  to  our  main 
object,  the  Christianization  of  this  nation,  and  as 
such  only,  would  I  at  all  dare  to  enlist  your  kind 
offices  in  behalf  of  the  movement.  If  we  could 
supply  a  few  places  with  competent  and  good 
men,  I  expect  there  will  be  numerous  applications 
of  the  same  kind.  At  the  same  time  this  measure 
offers  a  fine  opportunity  for  those  of  our  young 
men  of  learning  who  may  desire  to  make  a 
career  abroad  without  becoming  missionaries. 
212 


Called  to  the  Capital 

"The  government  of  Higo  would  like  to  get 
an  ex-lieutenant  of  the  army,  and  would  prefer  a 
married  man  with  his  wife." 

The  rage  for  foreign  travel  had  now  seized 
upon  the  upper  classes  and  we  find  the  relatives 
of  the  emperor  setting  their  faces  eastward  to 
the  United  States  and  Europe.  Most  of  these 
parties  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  and  often  of 
entertaining,  during  1868,  1869,  and  the  early  part 
of  1870  before  I  left  home  for  Japan,  which  I  did 
in  the  month  of  November,  1870. 

Mr.  Verbeck  wrote  to  Dr.  Ferris  from  Tokio, 
Sept.  21,  1870: 

"The  bearers,  his  Highness  Kacho-no-Miya, 
and  Messrs.  Yagimoto,  Shirane,  and  Takato  have 
requested  me  to  furnish  them  with  letters  of  in- 
troduction to  you.  The  officers  of  the  high 
government,  too,  who  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  these  young  men,  and  who  know 
your  good  name  and  the  interest  you  so  obligingly 
take  in  their  countrymen  who  came  to  the  states 
for  an  education,  have  joined  in  the  same  request, 
being  assured  that  they  have  the  best  guarantee 
for  the  future  good  of  their  students  while  under 
your  prudent  patronage. 

"Knowing  your  invariably  kind  disposition 
toward  and  care  for  all  students  from  Japan,  I 
do  not  hesitate  to  commend  this  interesting  party 
to  your  favor  and  good  advice,  all  of  which  are 
always  gratefully  acknowledged. 

"The  Kacho-no-Miya,  whom  in  his  introduc- 
tion I  style  'His  Highness,'  is  a  relation  to  the 

213 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Mikado — the  reigning  emperor.  He  comes,  how- 
ever, incog,  and  only  intends  to  resume  his  rank 
the  last  year  or  so.  He  is  to  stay  some  years. 
Your  name  is  already  well  known  to  the  officers 
of  the  high  government,  and  this  man's  meeting 
you  will  do  the  rest  to  get  your  kindness  to  all 
Japanese  properly  noticed  and  acknowledged  by 
them." 

Soon  there  was  not  only  a  stream  of  students 
moving  from  Japan  to  New  Brunswick  (for 
scarcely  any  other  centre  of  education  in  the 
United  States  had  yet  been  discovered),  but  the 
calls  now  began  to  come  for  teachers  from  the 
daimios  to  organize  schools  and  begin  work  in- 
side Japan. 

Naturally  one  of  the  first  of  the  feudal  lords,  to 
apply  and  to  receive  permission  for  foreigners  to 
enter  this  country,  was  Matsudaira,  Lord  of 
Echizen,  for  here  the  soil  had  been  already  pre- 
pared for  the  good  seed.  The  ground  had  been 
well  ploughed  and  harrowed  by  Yokoi  Heishiro 
and  a  band  of  scholars  from  and  visitors  to  Naga- 
saki. In  Fukui,  the  castle-city,  a  medical  and  a 
literary  school  had  already  been  established. 
Echizen  being  a  relative  of  the  Tokugawas  and 
yet  a  friend  to  progress,  very  acceptable  to  the 
new  government  and  holding  a  position  under 
it,  applied  for  a  staff  of  five  trained  professional 
teachers,  one  of  English,  one  of  the  physical 
sciences  who  was  to  be  superintendent  of  edu- 
cation, a  mining  engineer,  a  military  instructor, 
and  a  physician. 

214 


Called  to  the  Capital 

Under  date  of  July  21,  1870,  *'the  second  day 
of  our  summer  vacation  of  a  month,"  when  Mr. 
Verbeck  had  assumed  the  principalship  of  the 
college,  which  greatly  increased  his  duties,  we 
find  him  writing  as  follows;  for  toleration  of 
Christianity  had  not  yet  come.  \ 

"What  you  wrote  in  your  last  I  have  deeply 
felt  and  taken  to  heart.  The  time  does  seem 
long  and  I  too  sometimes  feel  like  crying  out, 
how  long  shall  the  heathen  rage  and  the  people 
imagine  a  vain  thing  ?  It  is  such  a  difficult  thing 
to  locate  with  precision  the  division  line  between 
human  prudence  and  unquestioning  obedience. 
Sometimes  the  goal  seems  almost  within  reach  and 
then  again  recedes  by  several  removes.  Religious 
intolerance  to  us  appears  so  entirely  unreasonable 
and  wicked  that  we  should  think  it  cannot  last 
many  days  longer.  Yet  again,  considering  in 
what  a  maze  of  difficulties,  political,  diplomatic, 
and  financial,  this  new  government  is  as  yet  in- 
volved, it  is  not  strange  that  they  stave  off  as 
long  as  possible  what  many  of  those  in  authority 
consider  as  another  (foreign)  cloud  fraught  with 
danger  and  confusion.  As  to  myself,  however,  I 
see  well  that  a  time  must  come  when  patience 
and  forbearance  (if  1  may  adapt  the  word  so) 
shall  have  had  their  full  share,  and  when  it  will 
be  proper  to  take  a  bold  stand  and  openly  to  say, 
we  have  long  enough  shown  you  that  we  are 
honest  men,  desirous  to  labor  for  nothing  "^ut 
your  happiness;  we  have  waited  long  enough 
for  you  to  allow  us  to  do  the  Lord's  work  freely 
215 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

and  in  His  appointed  way ;  now  we  must  even 
disregard  altogether  what  man  can  do  against  us 
and  commit  the  issue  to  our  God. 

*'  Such  a  crisis  must  come  of  course  sooner  or 
later.  In  the  meantime  we  use  every  opportunity 
to  gain  an  influence  and  a  good  reputation,  which 
will  be  a  powerful  means  in  the  day  of  direct 
attack;  while  with  many  we  must  vindicate  our 
very  character  and  prove  to  them  satisfactorily  that 
we  are  not  such  dreadful  beings  as  tradition  and 
superstition  had  once  taught  them  we  were.  But 
perhaps  I  ought  not  to  have  entered  on  such  a 
momentous  subject  in  a  hasty  note  like  this.  It 
is  no  easy  matter  to  keep  seven  or  eight  foreign 
teachers,  picked  up  at  this  port  and  of  four  differ- 
ent nationalities,  in  order  and  peace.  I  have  my 
hands  full,  yet  do  not  like  to  complain  on  that 
score.  I  feel  dreadfully  lonely,  and  if  it  had  not 
been  necessary  for  our  dear  children,  should 
never  have  consented  to  this  new  family  separa- 
tion. Pray  for  us  and  our  work,  is  the  request 
of  Yours  in  Christ." 


216 


XI 

THE  BIOGRAPHER  IN  TOKIO 

It  eventuated  that  of  the  four  or  five  men 
desired  for  Echizen,  Mr.  Alfred  Lucy,  from 
Birmingham,  England,  became  the  teacher  of 
English.  He  spent  some  months  in  Fukui, 
Echizen,  four  of  which  were  while  the  present 
writer  was  in  that  city.  The  faculty  of  Rutgers 
College,  to  whom  the  matter  of  the  teacher  of 
science  and  organizer  of  popular  education  was  re- 
ferred, unanimously  voted  that  the  present  writer, 
the  biographer,  was  the  man  to  fill  the  post. 
Nevertheless,  as  the  idea,  when  first  propounded, 
of  going  to  the  turbulent  Japan  of  that  day,  be- 
yond treaty  limits  at  least,  seemed  like  ventur- 
ing into  Central  Africa  or  into  the  regions  of 
eternal  ice,  the  offer  when  first  made  was 
promptly  declined.  It  was  reconsidered,  and 
accepted  after  it  had  been  reinforced  by  the 
urgent  wishes  of  the  secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Missions,  and  then  only  after  very  peculiar  and 
searching  personal  experiences. 

I  found  that  the  insurance  companies  would 
not,  except  at  a  heavy  premium,  insure  the  life  of 
one  going  inside  Japan.  To  this  day,  as  if  it 
were  yesterday,  I  remember  the  incredulity  and 
surprise  expressed  by  business  men,  that  "an  in- 

217 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

telligent  young  man  should  trust  a  people  like 
the  Japanese  to  keep  a  financial  engagement." 

After  purchasing  Hoffman's  Japanese  Grammar 
in  October,  and  learning  a  number  of  Japanese 
phrases  from  my  friends  and  pupils,  chiefly  from 
Satsuma  and  Echizen,  noticing  even  then  a  differ- 
ence in  their  dialect,  I  left  home  in  Philadelphia 
early  in  November  and  crossed  the  country  on 
the  Central  Pacific  Railway.  There  were  no  sta- 
tions, though  plenty  of  drinking  places,  between 
Omaha  and  Ogden,  so  I  laid  in  four  or  five  days' 
cooked  provision  before  leaving  Nebraska.  At 
the  stopping  places  I  saw  plenty  of  wild  Indians 
with  scalp  locks,  one  or  two  scalped  white  men, 
others  that  wanted  to  **  rub  out "  all  the  red  men, 
and  squaws  that  not  knowing  what  a  nickel  coin 
was,  but  not  ashamed  to  beg,  would  throw  away 
as  a  joke  and  fraud,  the  money  fresh  from  the 
mint  at  Philadelphia.  Herds  of  antelopes,  mil- 
lions of  prairie  dogs  and  occasionally  a  bear  were 
visible  from  the  car  windows.  I  was  impressed 
with  the  talk  of  the  average  western  man,  whose 
own  comment  on  projected  schemes  was  uniform 
enough  to  make  a  continuous  chorus,  "  Well  sir, 
it's  a  fact,  2ind you' II  see  it." 

Leaving  San  Francisco  December  ist,  in  the 
roomy  and  comfortable  old  paddle-wheel  wooden 
steamer,  Great  Republic,  I  landed  on  the  soil  of 
Japan,  after  a  beatific  vision  at  daybreak  of  snow- 
crowned  Fuji-Yama,  on  the  morning  of  Decem- 
ber 29,  1870.  Among  the  first  to  greet  me 
were  the  Rev.  James  H.  and  Mrs.  Ballagh  and 
218 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Hepburn.  I  was  at  the  New 
Year's  reception  given  by  the  United  States  Min- 
ister Hon.  Charles  E.  and  Mrs.  DeLong.  At  that 
time,  strange  as  it  may  now  seem,  not  only  were 
the  French  and  British  soldiers  camped  on  the 
bluffs  at  Yokohama,  but  all  the  foreign  legations, 
including  the  American,  were  not  where  they 
ought  to  have  been,  in  Tokio,  the  capital  of  the 
country,  but  at  the  commercial  seaport. 

My  first  impressions,  in  the  new  wonder  world 
of  Japan,  seemed  more  like  those  of  fairy  land, 
than  reality.  Here  was  a  region  of  amazing  con- 
trasts in  things  both  lovely  and  horrible.  Notes 
of  my  journey  over  the  Tokaido  to  Tokio  may  be 
read  in  ''The  Mikado's  Empire,"  but  let  me  here 
give  my  impressions,  on  first  reaching  Mr.  Ver- 
beck's  house,  which  was  to  be  my  home  for 
seven  weeks  during  my  stay  in  Tokio,  before  go- 
ing in  the  interior.  I  felt  convinced  before  I  left 
him,  that  this  quiet,  forceful  man,  was  then,  as  I 
now  know,  from  1859  until  1898,  not  the  least 
among  the  living  leaders  and  the  actual  makers 
of  new  Japan.  Yet  I  imagine  that  "  official "  Jap- 
anese history  will  take  no  note  of  the  ''  Yatoi." 

From  his  letters,  the  lights  and  shadows  of  his 
life  trail  over  the  paper  as  clouds  over  the  land- 
scape. In  one  lies  a  great  burden  of  grief.  The 
Japanese  so  quick  to  learn,  gained  their  experi- 
ence often  at  a  great  cost,  while  handling  the 
machinery  of  a  government  with  new  motors, 
whether  of  a  nation  or  of  a  ferryboat.  The  little 
steamer,  City  of  Yedo,  had  plied  for  several 
.    219 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

months,  between  Yokohama  and  Tokio,  and  on 
this  the  Rev.  Mr.  E.  Cornes,  his  wife,  two  children 
and  Japanese  servant  took  passage.  This  prom- 
ising American  missionary  who,  at  Mr.  Verbeck's 
request,  was  acting  as  a  teacher  in  the  new 
school  of  Foreign  Languages  in  Tokio,  had  served 
as  a  soldier  in  a  cavalry  regiment  in  the  Union 
Army  during  the  civil  war.  He  was  about 
twenty-eight  years  old  and  his  wife  was  four 
years  younger  than  himself.  Both  were  strong 
and  full  of  hope  for  the  future.  The  boiler  of 
the  steamer  burst  shortly  after  it  had  left  the 
dock.  In  the  terrible  dismemberment,  his  heart 
was  wrapped  around  his  neck.  The  only  sur- 
vivor of  the  four  was  the  little  baby  boy,  born  in 
the  May  previous.  With  his  Japanese  nurse  he 
escaped  with  some  scalds.  An  English  girl  of 
fifteen  was  also  killed.  The  Rev.  David  Thomp- 
son, since  so  rich  in  good  works,  took  Mr. 
Cornes'  place  temporarily  in  the  school.  Of 
course  the  disappointed,  the  incompetents,  and 
others  who  do  not  approve  of  missionaries,  had 
their  sneer  about  people  who,  coming  to  convert 
the  heathen,  turned  aside  to  capture  their  shekels. 
As  simple  matter  of  fact  the  unsophisticated 
"heathen"  soon  discovered  and  discriminated 
between  the  counterfeit  and  reality  in  the  men 
from  "  Christian  "  nations. 

Mr.  Verbeck  wrote  again  concerning  the  low 
moral  grade  of  such  waifs  as  he  was  able  to  pick 
up,  asking  also  for  men  of  pronounced  Christian 
character: 

220 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

"  They  are  an  inferior  set  compared  with  what 
I  might  get  at  home  (private),  and  this  I  wish  to 
show  the  authorities.  They  already  know  that  if 
they  want  men  to  trust  and  believe,  they  must 
have  missionaries,  and  I  should  like  to  prove  to 
them  that  our  country  produces  honest  and  hon- 
orable men  outside  of  our  order  who  yet  will 
stand  by  us. 

*'  Great  progress  is  made  by  the  people  in  be- 
coming enlightened,  but  it  takes  time  to  move  a 
nation  of  perhaps  twenty-five  or  thirty  mil- 
lions and  to  affect  public  opinion  so  as  to 
make  the  people  give  up  their  prejudices  and 
traditions.  There  are  many  enlightened  men 
among  government  officials  and  the  private 
classes;  but  there  are  more  who  prefer  the 
old  state  of  things  to  the  new.  Besides  all, 
the  government,  just  newly  established,  has 
so  many  vexed  questions  to  settle  in  diplo- 
macy, finance,  internal  policy,  and  innovations 
of  various  kinds,  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  it  staves  off  religious  toleration  as  long  as  it 
may.  But  that  turn  will  come  too,  and  we  hope 
and  pray  for  a  favorable  issue  at  last.  I  am  lone- 
some and  dreary  alone  in  this  heathen  capital, 
yet  it  was  necessary  for  my  wife  to  make  a  trip 
home.  I  only  hope  she  can  make  suitable  ar- 
rangements for  the  children  and  feel  strong 
enough  to  come  out  again  soon,  to  stay  with  me 
till  1876,  when,  if  the  Lord  will,  I  promise  myself 
the  pleasure  of  a  trip  to  civilization  and  Christian 
surroundings.  Hoping  to  hear  from  you  in  two 
221 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

or  three  days,  and  requesting  an  answer  to  the 
inquiries  above,  I  remain, 

"  I  am  anxious  to  inaugurate  this  new  move- 
ment to  their  full  satisfaction,  because  I  consider 
it  a  fine  opening  for  our  able  and  enterprising 
young  men,  and  as  a  means  of  indirectly  aiding 
our  missionary  work  by  placing  Christian  young 
men  in  situations  which  otherwise  would,  nay 
certainly  will,  be  fitted  by  our  warmest  enemies. 
If  we  can  give  satisfaction  this  time,  there  will 
be  a  demand  for  more,  and  later  for  young  ladies 
in  similar  positions,  of  which  I  have  seen  some 
indications  already." 

The  fruition  of  hope  for  the  education  of 
Japanese  women,  was  not  until  1873  when  the  first 
school  for  education  of  the  daughters  of  the  gentry 
was  established  by  the  Department  of  Education, 
of  which  Mrs.  Veeder  and  Miss  M.  C.  Griffis  were 
the  first  instructors.  Out  of  this  grew  the 
Peeresses'  School  in  which  taught  Miss  Alice 
Bacon,  the  author  of  that  delightful  classic 
"Japanese  Girls  and  Women." 

The  Echizen  men  were  especially  eager  about 
one  point  concerning  the  physician  and  surgeon. 
Dutch  was  then  the  language  of  science  and 
medicine  in  Japan.  Mr.  Verbeck  wrote,  **  The 
parties  who  engage  him  have  come  to  me  two 
or  three  times  since  to  say  that  the  doctor  must 
by  all  means  be  one  who  knows  the  Dutch 
language  well,  all  the  native  doctors'  knowledge 
and  nomenclature  of  the  medical  science  having 
been  got  by  reading  and  studying  medical  works 
222 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

imported  from  Holland,  long  before  the  opening 
of  the  country  and  since.  There  are  some 
thoroughly  learned  men  among  these  native 
doctors." 

The  openings  for  men  of  ability  from  Chris- 
tendom were  multiplying.  To  his  house 
flocked  as  doves  to  their  windows,  officers  for 
teachers  from  many  provinces.  In  the  same 
letter  he  wrote  :  "  Through  Numagawa's  exer- 
tions, I  have  a  similar  application  for  a  young 
man  to  go  to  the  Prince  of  Higo's  country." 
By  September  22,  1870,  Mr.  Verbeck  had  al- 
ready filled  five  similar  places  "with  people  I 
have  found  at  Yokohama,  but  prefer  getting 
them  from  home."  By  November  23,  1870,  he 
had  engaged  twelve  foreigners  for  the  college  of 
which  he  was  principal.  In  his  letter  expressing 
the  hope  that  he  might  be  able  to  visit  America 
during  the  Centennial  year,  he  declared  with  em- 
phasis his  desire  to  get  regularly  trained  men  of 
character  and  ability  from  home. 

The  time  is  now  come  when  the  biographer 
must  tell  the  story  of  how  and  when  he  first 
reached  Tokio  and  saw  Mr.  Verbeck.  It  was  on 
January  2,  1 871,  at  half  past  ten  in  the  morning.. 
At  this  time  Tokio  had  become  definitely  the 
capital  of  the  empire,  all  the  departments  of  the 
government  being  in  full  activity  there.  Twice 
the  emperor,  "the  son  of  Heaven,"  a  youth  six- 
teen years  old  had  shown  his  "dragon  counte- 
nance "  in  broad  daylight  and  in  public  to  myriads 
of  his  subjects,  who  had  never  looked  upon  the 

223 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

face  of  a  Mikado  before.  Two  princes  of  the 
blood,  and  scores  of  young  men  had  crossed  the 
ocean  to  lands  afar,  and  seen  how  big  the 
world  outside  of  Japan  was.  The  leaders  of 
the  nation  were  in  the  van  of  a  movement  toward 
foreign  civilization  which,  despite  reactionary 
conservatives  could  not  be  checked.  Two  years 
before,  such  events  as  were  now,  in  1871,  of 
daily  occurrence,  could  not  have  been  possible. 
They  would  have  been  too  shocking.  The 
ancient  diet  of  rice,  vegetables,  and  fish,  and  sake 
was  giving  way  to  beef,  bread,  and  beer,  and 
the  old  voluminous  costumes  to  the  tight  dress 
of  civilization.  Yet  many  a  time,  in  walking 
through  the  quarter  devoted  to  the  nobles  and 
gentry,  did  I  see  kuges  from  Kioto,  riding  on 
horseback,  who  seemed  to  me  as  if  figures  from 
a  pack  of  playing  cards  had  been  suddenly 
turned  by  some  magic  wand  into  life.  They 
were  swathed  in  what  appeared  to  my  gaze 
to  be  damask  quilts  or  comfortables,  each  with 
a  black  brick  strapped  to  the  top  of  his  head  and 
bound  around  the  chin  with  white  tape.  Nu- 
merous attendants  were  around  each  rider,  all 
looking  like  figures  on  a  chess  board,  suddenly 
become  animated.  It  took  me  a  long  time  to 
get  over  the  association  of  broadly  figured  dress 
patterns  with  bedclothes,  and  of  white  tape,  or 
broad  bands,  around  the  chin,  with  cerements. 
I  could  not  help  thinking  that  these  solemn  look- 
ing grandees  were  as  actually  in  physical,  as 
they  certainly  were  in  political  life,  **  laid  out." 

224 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

Henceforth  in  the  new  Japan,  personal  abilities 
far  more  than  rank  or  birth  were  to  count. 

At  this  time  the  members  of  the  Privy  Council 
of  the  cabinet  consisted  of  the  Kioto  nobles, 
Sanjo,  Iwakura,  and  Tokudaiji,  who  formed  a 
sort  of  triple  premiership,  beneath  whom  were 
the  ex-Prince  of  Hizen,  Okuma  of  Hizen,  Soye- 
shima  of  Hizen — all  of  them  Mr.  Verbeck's  per- 
sonal friends — with  Okubo  of  Satsuma,  Hirozawa 
of  Choshiu,  Kido  of  Choshiu,  and  Sasaki  of  Tosa. 
Of  this  little  company  of  ten,  probably  the  lives 
of  all  were  attempted  by  the  assassins,  while  of 
four  who  saw  their  assailants  and  the  weapons 
forged  for  their  slaughter,  Okubo  and  Hirozawa 
were  killed  at  once  and  by  night.  Iwakura  es- 
caped from  a  hedge  of  spears  and  swords  that 
at  night,  in  a  lonely  roadway  inside  the  castle, 
cut  his  carriage  to  pieces,  by  tumbling  down  the 
grassy  side  of  a  moat,  thus  eluding  his  pursuers. 
Okuma,  some  years  afterward,  lost  a  leg  by  a 
dynamite  bomb  made  of  a  gas  pipe  carried  in  an 
umbrella  by  a  native,  clad  in  the  full  evening 
dress  of  civilization,  who  afterward  killed  him- 
self. Arinori  Mori,  whom  I  met  in  1871  and 
often  afterward  in  Tokio,  when  a  cabinet  min- 
ister, in  his  official  dress  and  in  broad  daylight 
and  on  the  glorious  day  of  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  constitution  in  1889,  was  stabbed 
by  a  young  ruffian,  a  disappointed  student, 
whose  grave,  though  he  had  been  executed  as 
a  murderer,  resembled  for  some  months,  a 
Decoration  Day.      Katsu  Awa,  another  cabinet 

225 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

minister,  was  often  menaced  with  the  butcher's 
sword. 

Early  in  January,  1871,  the  Satsuma  men  were 
in  very  bad  humor.  They  considered  themselves 
the  chief  agents  in  the  success  of  the  Revolution, 
and  did  not  like  it  that  certain  men,  court  nobles 
who  had  been  shut  up  all  their  lives  in  Kioto, 
were  trying  to  carry  on  the  national  business, 
and  that  Hizen  had  three  members  of  the  cabinet, 
while  they  had  but  one.  Hence  it  was  that  one 
clansman  named  Yokoyama,  in  approved  feudal 
fashion,  first  offered  a  protest  of  indignation 
against  this  state  of  affairs — in  which  the  spoils 
were  withheld  from  the  victors — and  then,  going 
outside  of  the  chief  yashiki  of  the  clan  in  Tokio, 
he  duly  opened  his  body  according  to  the  most 
correct  method  of  hara-kiri.  The  Satsuma  men 
withdrew  their  forces  from  Tokio  and  returned 
by  steamer  to  Kagoshima. 

It  was  now  necessary  to  placate  both  the  spirits 
of  the  dead  and  the  minds  of  the  living  men  in 
Satsuma.  It  was  the  fashion  then,  as  it  had  been 
for  ages  in  Japan,  to  manufacture  gods  out  of 
men,  by  erecting  innumerable  shrines  and  giving 
high-flown  pompous  names  to  a  mob  of  dead 
men,  who  were  duly  worshipped.  One  could 
watch  the  effigies  of  scores  of  such  "gods"  in 
the  popular  processions  on  festival  days.  Sur- 
mounting lofty  structures  on  wheels,  around 
which,  in  their  phrensy  of  hilarious  and  often 
obscene  delights,  the  crowds  of  devotees  played, 
the  scholar  could  recognize  figures  of  men  or 

226 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

women  having  each  three  names  and  titles,  the 
first  historical  and  human,  the  second  posthu- 
mous and  Shintoistic,  and  the  third  Buddhist 
and  popular.  One  of  these  gods  was  Shokoku 
Daimiojin,  or  the  Great-Named  Man,  Shokoku, 
who  had  been  a  daimio  or  head  of  the  Satsuma 
clan  and  province.  It  seemed  necessary  for  the 
government  to  send  an  envoy  to  "take  an  oath 
to  the  god  to  exalt  the  destinies  of  the  State," 
and  at  his  shrine  to  present  a  sword. 

So  Iwakura,  in  company  with  Okubo,  pro- 
ceeded with  a  commission  from  the  emperor  to 
Shimadzu  Saburo,  then  head  of  the  Satsuma  clan, 
together  with  a  letter  written  in  the  proper  style 
and  full  of  complimentary  phrases  culled  from 
Chinese  documents  and  precedents.  The  an- 
swer of  the  great  Shimadzu  Saburo,  who  listened 
''prostrate  to  the  imperial  decree,"  though  "his 
bowels  are  rent  with  the  effort,"  and  he  tried  to 
"forget  himself  for  the  sake  of  his  country,"  is 
characteristic.  Read  in  a  cold  English  transla- 
tion it  seems  diplomatically  vague  to  the  last 
degree,  yet  it  was  wholly  acceptable.  Did  not 
Shimadzu  depend  upon  his  "Majesty's  wise  and 
sagacious  supernatural  virtue "  ?  Did  he  not 
"pray  that  the  heavenly  heart  may  be  pure  and 
transparent"?  Did  he  not  "adore  his  Majesty 
from  afar,  and  with  genuine  fear,  bowings  of 
the  head,  and  contempt  for  death  "  ?  And  was 
not  all  this  according  to  Japanese  orthodoxy.? 
Surely  yes. 

Okubo,  Kido,  and  Iwakura  formed  the  trium- 

227 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

virate  or  committee,  which  really  made  the  new 
government,  which  heretofore  had  rested  almost 
entirely  on  the  reverence  inspired  by  the  Mikado's 
sacred  name.  They  were  successful  in  getting 
the  three  great  clans  Satsuma,  Choshiu,  and  Tosa 
to  furnish  the  central  government  with  troops, 
which  in  Tokio  formed  the  nucleus  of  an  im- 
perial or  national  army.  The  three  great  men 
arrived  in  Tokio  on  the  26.  of  April,  1871.  Early 
in  1872,  Shimadzu  Saburo  and  some  hundreds 
of  his  loyal  clansmen  arrived  in  Tokio.  I  shall 
never  forget  either  them  or  my  feelings  when, 
in  a  narrow  street,  I  met  a  large  detachment  of 
the  red-sworded  men.  Fierce  and  wild  indeed 
seemed  these  swarthy  fellows,  with  hair  shaved 
off  their  front  temples  as  well  as  from  their  mid- 
scalps,  their  tremendously  long  swords  in  scarlet 
scabbards,  their  wide  sleeves  thrown  back  over 
their  shoulders,  exposing  bare  and  muscular  arms, 
and  their  faces  set  to  a  scowl,  they  seemed  the 
very  embodiment  of  pride  and  jealousy — exactly 
the  kind  of  pride  and  jealousy  which  only  igno- 
rant hermits,  believing  themselves  to  be  the  fa- 
vored children  of  the  gods,  could  cherish.  They 
had  rescued  their  own  land  and  wished  to  keep 
it  safe  from  foreign  defilement. 

I  had  during  our  own  civil  war  looked  on 
Arkansas  and  Louisiana  '* tigers,"  had  read  of 
ancient  fanatics  in  Jerusalem,  had  seen  Pawnees 
on  the  war  trail,  and  even  in  Japan  beheld  in 
paint,  at  least,  the  face  of  Yemma,  the  Lord  of 
the  Buddhist  hells.    These  had  all  done  excel- 

228 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

lently  in  scowls,  yet  I  am  not  certain  but  that  I 
thought  the  Satsuma  swashbuckler  of  1870  ex- 
celled them  all. 

My  first  arrival  in  Tokio  took  place  while 
Iwakura  was  absent.  I  bore  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction to  him  from  his  own  sons  whom  I  had 
known  in  New  Brunswick.  Tokio  was  then 
garrisoned  by  the  soldiers  of  other  clans.  Pass- 
ing through  Tsukiji,  or  the  foreign  quarter,  see- 
ing that  already  the  new  settlement  was  doomed 
to  failure,  chiefly  on  account  of  the  shallow 
harbor,  I  passed  at  the  limits  a  barrier  and  guard- 
house painted  black  and  looking  grim  enough  to 
keep  out,  as  was  intended,  all  ronin  from  enter- 
ing the  settlement.  To  get  into  the  main  city,  \ 
one  had  to  pass  by  **the  flowery  meadow"  or 
Yoshiwara,  where  sat  hundreds  of  young  girls 
and  women,  practically  slaves,  but  fair  by  nature  I  fi^^ 
and  prettily  dressed  or  made  attractive  and  all 
ready  to  ply  their  trade  for  the  benefit  of  their 
owners.  This  and  a  customhouse  were  the  two 
institutions  supposed  to  be  indispensable  to  a 
foreign  port. 

With  a  little  Japanese  map  in  my  hand,  I  found 
my  way  through  the  various  streets,  until  I 
reached  the  great  Tori,  or  main  highway,  which 
was  thronged  with  moving  humanity,  including 
soldiers  in  every  style  of  hybrid  costume.  Near 
the  Nippon  Bashi  or  Bridge  of  Japan,  which  was 
the  centre  of  the  empire,  from  which  all  distances 
were  measured,  I  stopped  to  note,  having  already 
recognized,  the  anti-Christian  edicts  which  hung 

229 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

with  the  other  laws  under  roof.  At  noon,  having 
passed  through,  or  rather  along  the  district  occu- 
pied by  the  castle  and  great  Yashikis,  some  of  them 
occupying  many  acres,  I  reached  a  street  opposite 
the  castle  gateway  and  bridge  named  after  the 
last  of  the  Tycoons,  Hitotsubashi,  where,  in  the 
vast  space,  of  old  called  Gojingahara,  were  built 
the  sheds  and  bungalows,  comprising  the  Kai 
Sei  Jo  or  Place  for  the  Promotion  of  Civilization, 
then  called  the  Dai  Gaku  Nan  Ko,  or  Southern 
Branch  of  the  Imperial  University.  Within  were 
about  a  thousand  barefooted  or  sandaled,  top- 
knotted  and  two-sworded  pupils,  who  wore 
what  seemed  to  me  bedroom  wrappers  and  petti- 
coats, often  with  slates  and  ink-bottles  slung  to 
their  girdles.  In  the  "compound"  lived  the 
foreign  teachers.  The  inclosing  fences  were  of 
the  regulation  official  black,  high,  tarry,  and 
gloomy.  Entering  through  the  gateway,  duly 
received,  and  my  business  made  known  to  the 
mom-ban  or  gatekeeper,  I  was  escorted  to  the 
door  of  the  superintendent's  house.  There  I 
met  the  house  "boy,"  a  young  samurai  with  re- 
fined face  and  exquisitely  dainty  hands  and  taper 
fingers,  who  invited  me  to  wait  in  the  parlor, 
until  lunch  was  ready,  which  was  in  a  few  mo- 
ments. Soon  my  host  with  a  face  stamped  in 
every  line  with  seriousness,  honesty,  penetration, 
and  the  enthusiasm  of  humanity  entered  and 
warmly  greeted  me  in  welcome.  Then  began 
my  six  weeks'  stay  under  the  hospitable  roof  and 
a  lifelong  friendship. 

230 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

Let  me  first  of  all  describe  that  parlor  or  re- 
ception room,  in  which,  early  in  187 1,  I  spent 
many  days  in  study,  rest,  conversation  with  the 
host,  and  pleasant  social  intercourse  with  both 
Japanese  and  foreigners. 

Again,  early  in  1872,  on  my  return  from  Fukui, 
I  was  in  that  same  room  for  weeks.  Often  I  re- 
mained, by  request,  when  Mr.  Verbeck  was  giv- 
ing audience  to  high  ministers  of  the  cabinet  and 
heads  of  departments  who  came  to  consult  him 
on  grave  affairs  of  state. 

To  sit  in  a  cozy  armed  chair,  which  afterward 
became  temporarily  the  imperial  throne,  to  study 
Japanese  maps  and  books,  to  read  the  literature 
from  Europe  that  loaded  the  superintendent's 
table,  were  privileges  I  counted  then  as  delights 
and  now  enjoy  as  memory  pictures. 

Often  I  had  good  opportunity  to  learn  the  eti- 
quette of  the  gate  and  the  door,  and  to  notice 
how  careful  this  grave,  serious,  and  spectacled 
man  was  to  do  the  right  thing  to  the  right  person, 
at  the  right  time  and  at  the  right  place.  Yet, 
whether  statesmen,  to  talk  of  imperial  matters, 
or  teachers  and  students  to  ask  of  education  in 
theory  or  practice,  or  Samurai  from  any  and 
every  part  of  the  empire  to  propound  questions 
on  every  subject  under  the  heavens,  I  think  I  can 
honestly  say,  all  were  politely  and  patiently 
heard. 

Yet  these  are  not  the  only  visions  now  in 
memory's  hall.  There  were  also,  in  1872,  after 
Mrs.  Verbeck  had  returned  from  California,  chil- 

231 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

dren  in  the  house,  for  this  was  a  home,  also,  and 
many  a  merry  romp  do  I  remember  with  the 
children,  especially  with  little  Guido,  the  pretty 
boy,  who  seemed  as  the  incarnation  of  japan's 
sunshine — a  fair  bud  of  promise,  whose  petals  of 
life  closed  at  sixteen.  The  fact  that  there  was  a 
little  maid  in  the  house  attracted  other  little  maids 
also.  More  than  once,  it  seemed  like  the  burst- 
ing of  a  cherry-tree  into  flower,  or  as  if  some  old 
man  in  the  fairy-tale  had  thrown  magic  ashes  on 
a  winter  tree,  to  see  the  door  open  and  the  pretty 
virgins  of  Nippon  trip  in,  arrayed  in  all  the  glori- 
ous color  and  the  dazzling  dyes  of  silk  for  which 
the  Sunrise  Land  is  famous.  On  Japanese  New 
Year's  morning,  such  a  vision  unexpectedly 
greeted  me,  as  the  young  daughter  of  the  minis- 
ter Sasaki,  not  knowing  that  any  one  was  in  the 
room,  was  ushered  in  to  make  her  congratulatory 
call.  For  color  and  brilliancy,  for  gorgeousness 
of  hair,  ornament  and  dress,  and  perfection  of 
girlish  loveliness,  I  thought  I  had  never  seen  any- 
thing to  equal  it,  though  I  had  been  in  the  capi- 
tals of  Europe,  as  well  as  dwelt  in  America,  yes 
even  in  Philadelphia,  Queen  City  of  fair  women. 
Knowing  some  Japanese,  I  was  able  to  put  the 
little  lady  at  her  ease,  until  her  girl  friend  de- 
scended from  above  stairs. 

That  part  of  the  room  which  fascinated  me  and 
was  most  typical  both  of  my  host's  toil  and  of 
Japan's  new  era,  was  that  just  within  and  to  the 
left  of  the  door.  There  on  a  space,  if  I  remember 
right,   of  about  ten  feet  by  four,   were  piled 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

dictionaries,  text-books,  and  literature  in  several 
languages,  with  files  of  the  best  periodicals  of 
the  West,  from  countries  on  either  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  also  catalogues  of  publishers  and  instru- 
ment makers,  and  other  material  necessary  for 
the  head  of  a  nascent  university  in  which  six  lan- 
guages, English,  French,  German,  Dutch,  Japa- 
nese, and  Chinese  were  taught,  and  in  which 
courses  of  instruction  had  already  been  formu- 
lated. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  education  and 
intellectual  reform  had  been  inaugurated  by  the 
Bakufu,  or  old  government,  and  long  been  op- 
posed by  the  Bakufu's  opponents,  and  that  this 
institution  was  the  development  of  an  older  one. 
To  be  exact,  let  me  quote  from  the  Historical 
Summary,  in  the  Imperial  University  Calendar, 
for  the  year  2556-57  of  the  Empire,  or  a.  d. 
1896-97,  translating  within  brackets  the  Japanese 
words. 

*'  Inasmuch  as  the  Teikoku  Daigaku  (Heavenly 
Dynasty  Country  Great  Learning),  or  Imperial 
University  owes  its  existence  to  the  union-  of  the 
late  Tokio  Daigaku  (Great  Learning),  Kobu 
(Department  of  Public  Works),  Daigakko,  and 
Tokyo  Noringakko  (School  of  Forestry  and 
Agriculture),  it  seems  fitting  that,  in  tracing  its 
history,  reference  should  be  made  to  the  origin 
of  these  three  institutions. 

**  The  four  departments  of  law,  science,  medi- 
cine, and  literature,  which  composed  the  Tokio 
Daigaku,  sprang,  with  the  one  exception  of  the  de- 

233 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

partment  of  medicine,  from  an  institution  of  some 
antiquity  founded  by  the  Tokugawa  government, 
and  known  first  as  the  Yogakujo  (Place  of 
Western  Learning),  and  afterward  as  the  Kai- 
seijo.  This  institution  was,  after  the  restoration 
of  1868,  revived  by  the  imperial  government,  and 
in  the  following  year,  the  college  received  the 
name  of  Daigaku  Nanko,  and  was  attached  to  the 
Daigaku,  which  was  then  established  at  Yushima." 
In  the  year  1871,  the  Daigaku  Nanko  came 
directly  under  the  control  of  the  department  of 
education  then  first  established,  and  was  called 
simply  the  Nanko,  and  in  the  following  year, 
when  the  country  was  mapped  out  into  edu- 
cational districts,  it  received  the  name  of  the 
'*  First  Middle  School  of  the  First  Grand  Educa- 
tional District."  It  impressed  me  mightily  to  see 
what  a  factotum  Mr.  Verbeck  was,  a  servant  of 
servants  indeed,  for  I  could  not  help  thinking 
how  he  imitated  his  Master.  I  saw  a  prime 
minister  of  the  empire,  heads  of  departments, 
and  officers  of  various  ranks,  whose  personal 
and  official  importance  I  sometimes  did,  and 
sometimes  did  not,  realize,  coming  to  find  out 
from  Mr.  Verbeck  matters  of  knowledge  or  to 
ydiscuss  with  him  points  and  courses  of  action. 
To-day  it  might  be  a  plan  of  national  education ; 
to-morrow,  the  engagement  of  foreigners  to 
important  positions;  or  the  dispatch  of  an  envoy 
to  Europe;  the  choice  of  the  language  best  suit- 
able for  medical  science;  or,  how  to  act  in  matters 
of  neutrality  between  France  and  Germany,  whose 

234 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

war  vessels  were  in  Japanese  waters;  or,  to  learn 
the  truth  about  what  some  foreign  diplomatist 
had  asserted;  or,  concerning  the  persecutions  of! 
Christians;   or,  some  serious  measure  of  home 

policy. 

Week  after  week  I  saw  Principal  Verbeck  at 
work  and  knew  his  routine  of  life.     He  rose 
early    and    wrought    much    before    breakfast. 
Immediately  after  this   meal,   he  would  go  to 
school,  supervising  details  during  three  morning 
and  three  afternoon  hours.     Then,  often,  from 
four  to  six,  he  would  join  me  in  my  expeditions 
in  various  parts  of  the  wonderful  city  of  Tokio, 
or  its  suburbs.     Usually  we  went  on  horseback, 
when  going  some  distance.     We  could  not  make 
use  of  the  jin-riki-sha,  for  early  in    1871   this 
vehicle  was  hardly  known  outside  of  Yokohama. 
Besides  travel  on  foot  or  horseback,  the  usual 
means  was  by  the  kago  or  bamboo  basket  hung 
on  a  pole  set  on  the  shoulders  of  two  men,  or  by 
the  norimono,  hung  from  a  beam  and  borne  by  four 
men.    The  ba-sha,  or  horse  carriage,  was  still  a 
great  curiosity.      The  locomotive  and  railway 
were  still  only  in  the  dreams  of  hope,  or  as  the 
breath  of  a  clam— a  fairy-tale  clam,  of  course. 
When  we  walked  out  in  the  city  or  went  to 
Uyeno,  the  scene  of  the  battle  of  July  4,  1868, 
or  to  Asakusa  or  Shiba,  we  were  accompanied 
by  armed  guards,  who  were  responsible  for  our 
lives.     Hear  what  Mr.  Verbeck  says  in  his  lecture 
given  early  in  1898,  to  some  Japanese  young  men, 
and  thus  translated: 

235 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

"  There  were  yet  no  soshi  in  those  times,  but 
a  worse  kind  of  persons  who  went  by  the 
name  of  ronin.  I  now  remember  some  thirty  or 
so  of  the  people,  whose  lives  were  cruelly  de- 
stroyed by  these  vagabonds.  In  the  year  1869,  I 
was  invited  to  the  Kaisei  Gakko  in  Tokio,  and 
lived  within  the  compound  of  the  school.  Being 
now  employed  by  the  government,  I  was  always 
guarded  by  bette  (a  kind  of  policemen).  When- 
ever I  went  out  for  exercise  or  for  business,  I  was 
escorted  by  them ;  if  I  rode,  they  also  rode,  and 
if  I  walked,  they  also  walked.  How  troublesome 
this  must  have  been  for  them ! 

'Mtwas  on  a  certain  day  that  a  chief  of  the 
bette  came  to  me  and  asked  me  not  to  go  out  for 
some  time,  because  many  ronin  had  entered 
Tokio.  Thus,  I  was  obliged  not  to  go  out  even 
for  a  short  walk,  and  to  spend  about  two  weeks 
in  weariness,  when,  feeling  it  to  be  unbearable, 
I  called  one  of  the  bette  and  prevailed  on  him  to 
let  me  freely  enjoy  fresh  air.  Escorted  by  four 
bette,  though  two  bette  were  usual,  I  was  as 
happy  as  a  bird  let  out  of  its  cage,  about  to  leave 
my  house,  when  two  samurai  of  the  Hizen  clan 
called  on  me  and  offered  themselves  to  follow  me 
also  as  escorts.  I,  being  thus  assured  of  my 
safety  by  twelve  swords  (for  each  of  these 
samurai  and  the  bette  wore  a  pair  of  swords 
about  his  waist),  started  for  Oji.  When  we 
almost  came  to  Dokan  Yama,  I  was  frightened 
by  a  ronin,  who,  seeing  me,  changed  his  color 
and  touched  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  but,  being 

236 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio      • 

prevented  from  any  mischievous  effort  by  my  six 
escorts,  passed  us,  so  chagrined  that  he  grasped 
the  hilt  as  if  he  was  going  to  crush  it.  I  was  so 
much  terrified  by  this  incident  that  I  at  once 
returned  home,  only  too  glad  to  become  again 
imprisoned  within  my  dwelling." 

I  noticed  that  Mr.  Verbeck  always  looked  care- 
fully to  his  revolver  to  see  that  it  was  in  good 
order.  He  carried  it  in  the  right-hand  pocket  of 
his  loose  sack  coat,  for  he  told  me  that  this  was 
the  best  place  to  have  it  instantly  ready.  The 
murderous  ronins,  to  say  nothing  of  drunken 
loafers,  ruffians,  and  wild  characters  of  every 
sort,  were  numerous  in  the  capital  city  and  Ver- 
beck of  Japan  did  not  propose  to  throw  his  life 
away.  *'The  two  British  military  officers  assas^ 
sinated  at  Kamakura,"  he  said,  ''were  killed  be- 
cause they  had  their  revolvers  in  their  belts 
around  at  their  back,  whereas  the  ronins  when 
they  attack,  rush  at  you  as  quick  as  lightning  and 
may  cut  you  down  before  you  can  draw  your 
pistol."  Mine  was  a  Smith  and  Wesson's  revol- 
ver, bought,  just  before  I  left  New  Brunswick, 
by  the  advice  of  my  Japanese  friends.  It  was 
snugly  kept  in  a  special  pocket  made  inside  the 
left  lapel  of  my  walking  coat,  whence  it  could  be 
drawn  quickly,  as  it  seemed  indeed  more  than 
once  necessary.  I  am  not  certain  but  that  the 
mere  gesture  of  putting  my  hand  into  my  bosom 
was  more  than  once  a  means  of  impressing  upon 
some  scowling  patriot  that  he  had  better  not 
draw. 

237 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

"The  moral  uses  of  dark  things"  were 
finely  illustrated  in  a  way  outside  of  Dr. 
Horace  Bushnell's  lines  of  thought.  Soon  the 
mean  cowards  that  disgraced  the  name  of  samu- 
rai and  misrepresented  the  untarnished  repu- 
tation for  valor  belonging  to  Japan,  found  that 
the  foreigner  had  teeth  that  would  bite.  The 
public  decapitation  of  a  few  of  these  misguided 
men  on  the  common  execution  ground  along 
with  thieves  and  incendiaries,  after  they  had 
committed  assassination,  cooled  their  zeal  and 
made  the  assassination  of  aliens  unpopular.  The 
determined  attitude  in  private  defence  completed 
a  needed  reform  and  stopped  the  epidemic  of 
murder.  It  soon  come  to  be  known  by  this  gang 
of  cowardly  ruffians  that  a  little  lead,  packed 
ready  for  delivery  at  a  moment's  notice,  was  in- 
side the  alien's  coat,  and  his  species  gradually 
made  way  for  a  better  sort  of  "gentleman"  and 
to  the  encouragement  of  a  new  model  of  patri- 
otism. 

It  is  not  for  a  biographer  to  revel  in  a  flow  of 
words  over  the  glories  of  the  imperial  city  of 
Tokio,  its  pageantry  and  splendors,  its  gala  days, 
its  museums,  theatres,  temples,  and  gardens, 
river  delights,  its  scenery,  the  fascinations  of 
glorious  Fuji  ever  in  sight,  its  floral  attractions  in 
winter  and  summer,  its  literary  and  social  charms, 
and  in  time  the  beauties  of  holiness  and  joys  of 
worship.  These  can  only  be  hinted  at,  to  sug- 
gest an  environment,  which,  during  thirty  years, 
the  child  of  God,   though  ever   "as  one  that 

238 


The  Biographer  in  Tokio 

served,"  gratefully  enjoyed  as  from  the  hand  of 
his  Father.  Mr.  Verbeck  was  not  able  to  give 
any  time,  but  that  absolutely  needed  for  recrea- 
tion, to  what  was  around  him,  though  keenly 
sensitive  to  the  charms  of  nature  and  society. 

How  the  lights  and  shadows  played  over  the 
landscape  of  his  life  in  Tokio  during  the  early 
part  of  1870  is  seen  in  his  letters. 


239 


CHAPTER  XII 

AMONG  ALL  SORTS  AND  CONDITIONS  OF  MEN 

A  WONDERFUL  Variety  of  human  nature  was 
oftentimes  gathered  under  Mr.  Verbeck's  hospi- 
table roof.  The  host  had  to  employ  steadily 
every  one  of  the  five  languages  which  he  knew 
so  well  how  to  use,  even  though  most  of  his 
guests  spoke  the  tongue  which  is  yet  to  be  that 
of  the  wodd.  The  fact  that  the  Japanese,  just 
born  into  the  worid  of  new  thoughts  and  ideas, 
as  constantly  hungry  for  new  food  as  young 
robins,  kept  as  busy  as  a  father  bird  the  one  man 
of  all  others  then  in  the  empire  best  able  to  fill 
the  hungry  maws.  The  fact  that  positions  were 
opening  for  teachers  with  good  salaries  attached 
to  them,  brought  a  constant  string  of  applicants 
from  among  the  men  who  had  sailed,  drifted,  or 
were  dumped  into  Yokohama.  The  necessity 
thrown  upon  Mr.  Verbeck  to  supply  suddenly 
the  teachers  needed,  was  a  pressing  one.  Yet 
while  the  great  harvest  was  ripening,  the  labor- 
ers able  to  handle  skillfully  the  sickle  were  few 
indeed. 

In  the  ports  of  the  East  there  are  now,  as  there 
were  then,  many  typical  specimens  of  the  high- 
est manhood  and  womanhood,  but  there  was 
also  much  floating  wreckage  of  society.    There 

240 


Among  all  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men 

were  men  once  with  superb  and  shining  abilities, 
that  had  buried  both  their  talents  and  their  nap- 
kin, and  were  no  longer  rich  in  power  or  clean  in 
character.  Others  had  been  graduated  out  of  the 
army  and  navy,  the  bar  and  the  office,  and  the 
counting  room  because  of  too  long  dalliance  at 
the  cup,  or  for  causes  that  spotted  their  moral  as 
well  as  physical  nature.  Yet  if  they  spoke  and 
read  the  English  language  and  were  immediately 
on  hand,  they  might  serve  when  the  Japanese 
were  so  eager  for  teachers  and  no  others  were  to 
be  obtained. 

It  could  not  be  surprising  then,  that  teachers 
who  would  smoke  their  pipes  in  the  class-room, 
swear  at  the  students,  absent  themselves  from 
their  post  because  alcohol  had  fuddled  their 
brains,  or  who  would  be  found  in  disreputable 
rows  and  places,  were  more  than  common. 

Let  me  picture  as  best  I  can  the  remembrances 
of  one  week's  experiences.  At  dinner  time, 
noon,  the  table  is  spread  for  eight.  At  the  head 
sits  mine  host,  busily  attentive  to  the  wants  of 
the  hungry  men,  while  trying  to  make  each  one 
of  the  varied  company  happy.  An  oval-faced, 
taper-fingered,  bright-eyed  young  man,  reared  as 
a  gentleman,  but  serving  as  a  waiter  in  order  to 
learn  English  and  foreign  ways,  waits  on  the 
table.  He  has  the  assistance  of  a  **  pudding 
face," — another  servant  of  heavier  build  but 
much  less  intellectual  face  and  evidently  of  an- 
cestors who,  unlike  the  samurai,  have  not  for  a 
thousand  years  or  more  enjoyed  intellectual  cul- 
241 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

ture.  The  first  course  is  soup,  the  second  is 
steak  and  fried  potatoes,  the  third  is  shrimp 
curry  and  rice,  the  fourth,  dessert.  The  host 
must  not  only  supervise,  provide,  and  teach,  but 
must  be  hospitable  out  of  his  own  charges.  Yet 
there  were  those  who  wondered  how  the  mis- 
sionary could  roll  in  wealth  and  they  abused  him 
roundly  for  it. 

Opposite  to  mine  host  sits  a  Japanese  young 
gentleman,  whose  younger  brother  is  in  America. 
I  knew  the  latter  as  a  timid,  frightened  looking 
boy,  yet  with  an  unquenchable  thirst  for  knowl- 
edge. Fearfully  handicapped  in  the  race  for  life, 
by  that  hereditary  disease  which  used  to  desolate 
humanity  in  Japan,  science  and  surgery  in  Phila- 
delphia had  already  renovated  him.  Now,  writ- 
ing after  thirty  years,  we  see  in  that  youth,  after 
the  healing  and  helping  of  the  education,  abroad 
and  at  home,  one  of  the  leaders  in  industrial 
education  and  an  honored  envoy,  able  to  martial 
and  represent  Japan's  best  products  at  the  World's 
various  expositions. 

I  sat  in  1 87 1,  beside  his  brother,  who  had 
never  handled  knife  or  fork  or  occidental  tools. 
With  that  restless  Japanese  eye — sure  sign  of 
Tartar  or  North  Asian,  not  Chinese  ancestry — 
that  watches  each  detail  and  takes  in  all,  this 
polished  gentleman  gets  through  the  ordeal,  from 
napkin  opening  to  finger  bowl,  without  one  slip 
or  fault. 

Let  the  American  teacher  stand  in  the  shadow, 
for  he  is  enjoying  the  novelty  and  the  fun.     Have 

242 


Among  all  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men 

we  not  opposite  to  us  a  vast  and  pompous  per- 
sonage who,  from  the  lofty  height  of  that  "R. 
N."  on  his  visiting  card,  looks  down  upon  us 
ordinary  mortals  who  have  never  been  in  the 
royal  navy  ?  He  diffuses  around  and  beneath 
him  a  general  air,  both  of  mild  omniscience  and 
of  extreme  condescension,  and  we  all  of  us  are 
expected  to  think  him  a  wonderful  man.  Of  his 
subsequent  history,  I  know  only  this,  that,  being 
temporarily  engaged  as  a  teacher  of  English,  like 
the  next  rather  modest  and  quiet  gentleman,  also 
an  Englishman,  who  sits  next  to  him,  both  are 
told  that  in  addition  to  their  salary,  their  ex- 
penses of  carriage,  or  transportation,  from  their 
lodgings  at  the  hotel  at  Tsukiji  to  the  college  will 
be  paid.  The  distance  was  about  three  miles. 
Now  to  show  the  variety  of  interpretation,  as 
well  as  contrast  in  characters,  the  next  morning 
the  simple  gentleman  reached  the  scene  of  his 
duty  promptly  in  a  jin-riki-sha  for  which  the 
charge  was  half  a  bu,  or  about  twelve  cents, 
whereas  the  mighty  man  in  the  fraternity  of 
Drake  and  Nelson  appeared  in  a  barouche 
drawn  by  four  horses,  with  a  native  driver,  for 
which  in  due  time  the  treasury  of  H.  I.  J.  M.  had 
to  pay.  The  feat  was  almost  equal  to  the  sale  in 
Yokohama  to  a  native  of  a  shilling  Shakespeare 
for  fifteen  dollars. 

Then  there  were  two  other  gentlemen,  once 
representatives  of  our  gallant  army  and  navy,  and 
both  possessing  the  fine  physique  which  West 
Point  and  Annapolis  secure.    Each  of  our  country's 

243 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

defenders  were  able  no  doubt,  to  take  a  city  or 
storm  a  fortress,  but,  alas,  as  events  past  and 
future  proved,  were  unable  to  rule  either  their 
own  spirits  or  those  of  the  bottle.  A  mighty 
man  in  mathematics,  and  a  hero  on  the  plains, 
was  he  who  had  so  long  made  king  alcohol  and 
John  Barleycorn  his  companions,  that  between 
brandy  and  whiskey  he  had  become  a  social 
exile,  even  as  in  Tokio  he  proved  a  failure.  The 
man  of  the  deck,  with  a  history  somewhat 
similar,  was  now  hoping  to  recoup  broken  for- 
tunes and  character  at  two  hundred  dollars  a 
month.  Various  indeed  were  the  characters  met 
with  in  that  conglomerate  of  humanity  which 
came  under  my  eye  during  my  first  seven  weeks 
in  Tokio.  Some  were  coarsely  vulgar  and  un- 
concealedly  ignorant.  Because  of  alcohol,  osten- 
tatious sensualism,  or  manifest  illiteracy,  they 
ran  through  their  probation  and  career,  in  periods 
varying  from  one  to  six  days.  It  was  as  pa- 
thetic as  it  was  disappointing,  to  discover  stranded 
on  the  shore  that  in  more  senses  than  one  is 
scoured  by  the  Black  Tide,  the  wrecks  of  so 
many  brilliant  men. 

One  must  not  forget  that  Tokio  was  then  much 
like  the  witch's  caldron  in  Macbeth's  tale,  seeth- 
ing with  manifold  strange  and  uncanny  elements. 
The  old  order  of  society  had  been  broken  up  by 
a  great  tidal  wave,  caused  by  political  upheaval 
de  profundis.  Much  of  what  was  good  in  old 
Yedo  had  gone  out  and  the  new  wave  coming  in 
had  not  only  brought  new  and  strange  things 

244 


Among  all  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men 

afloat,  but  had  scoured  up  and  forced  to  the  sur- 
face may  evils  long  repressed.  Furthermore  it 
is  doubtful  whether  vice  in  the  chief  city  of  Japan 
was  ever  more  rampant  than  in  the  third  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  Besides  the  lust  and 
villainy,  life  was  held  to  be  cheaper  than  dirt  by 
the  swash-bucklers,  ronins,  and  other  strange 
characters  and  outlaws  then  infesting  Tokio. 
With  the  rough  soldiery  of  the  various  clans  and 
thousands  of  young  men  and  boys  from  many 
provinces  then  living  in  the  city  as  real  or  nomi- 
nal students,  but  ever  ready  for  adventure 
and  all  armed  with  two  swords,  there  was  a 
sufficiency  of  the  elements  of  danger.  Only  a 
few  days  before  my  arrival,  within  a  few  yards 
of  Mr.  Verbeck's  door,  a  man  had  been  cut  down 
by  some  sword-bearing  ruffian.  It  was  a  good 
many  hours  before  the  bloody  carcase  was  re- 
moved. How  it  was  done  let  Mr.  Verbeck  tell 
again  as  he  did  early  in  1898  : 

'There  was  still  another  thing,  so  cheaply 
estimated,  that  is,  the  life  of  the  hemin-class 
(common  people).  It  was  not  so  serious  a 
matter  for  a  samurai  to  despatch  a  merchant,  a 
farmer,  or  an  artisan  with  his  sword.  Of  course, 
this  was  not  done  without  reason,  and  yet  this 
took  place  very  often.  Suppose  a  young  samurai 
procured  a  new  costly  sword,  and  you  will  see 
him  taking  a  walk  with  his  friends,  when  a  poor 
beggar  comes  to  him  and  asks  for  alms,  and  all 
at  once  the  new  blade  glitters  upon  the  beggar's 
head  I    When  I  lived  at  Hitotsubashi,  Tokyo,  I 

245 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

walked  out  of  my  house  early  in  the  morning, 
and  found  a  dead  body  on  the  ground,  upon 
which  doubtless  a  new  sword  was  tried.  After 
a  little  while,  a  certain  official  came  to  examine 
the  corpse,  and  let  two  coolies  bind  the  limbs 
and  carry  it  with  the  pole  running  through  the 
rope.  They  seemed  as  if  they  were  going  to 
bury  a  dead  dog  !  " 

We  were  soon  to  have  a  taste  of  contempora- 
neous Japanese  manners  and  customs  and  the 
results  of  interference  by  foreigners.  About  ten 
days  after  my  arrival  in  Tokio,  Mr.  Verbeck  and 
I  had  planned  to  ride  to  Oji  to  see  the  flowers 
and  the  beautiful  landscape.  About  4  a.  m.,  Mr. 
Verbeck  called  me,  telling  that  great  changes  had 
occurred  during  the  night  and  that  two  of  the 
European  teachers  had  been  cut  with  swords  and 
perhaps  were  dead.  Dressing  quickly,  accom- 
panied by  a  servant  carrying  a  lantern,  we  went 
through  the  dark  streets  passing  the  watchmen,  ^ 
who  as  they  walked  by  the  houses  jingling  their 
poles  with  iron  rings  at  the  top  on  a  metal  tip, 
called  out  "look  out  for  fire,"  and  seeing  here 
and  there  beggars  sleeping  under  matting. 

» In  1898,  in  his  lecture  in  Tokio, Mr.  Verbeck  said:  "  There 
were  no  policemen  or  constables  but  okabiki  and  torite  (one  of 
the  young  men  in  the  audience  did  not  know  what  these  were. 
What  a  rapid  change  was  made !)  Since  these  okabiki  or 
torite  did  not  wear  uniform,  they  could  hardly  be  distinguished 
from  common  people.  It  often  happened  that  the  people  re- 
garded ordinary  folks  as  detectives.  To  the  school  at  Naga- 
saki,  in  which  I  was  employed,  this  kind  of  officials  frequently 
came,  but  soon  they  disappeared." 
246 


Among  all  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men 

In  Rice  Pot  street,  we  reached  a  house  where 
were  lying  two  men  with  fair  faces.  Both  had 
been  cut  down  from  behind.  On  the  one  the 
sword  tip  had  cut  partly  into  the  head  and  down 
through  the  shoulder.  On  the  other  was  a  terri- 
ble cut,  crosswise,  like  a  great  canal,  from  the 
right  shoulder  down  across  the  region  of  the 
spine  and  loins,  one  of  the  ribs  being  severed. 
He  had  also  received  a  heavy  cut  downward,  on 
the  other  shoulder,  both  gashes  deep  and  long 
and  then  bound  together  with  the  admirably  thick 
and  absorbent  Japanese  paper. 

I  remember  my  strange  sensations  in  being  for 
the  first  time  in  a  native  Japanese  house.  On 
the  walls  hung  the  mask  of  the  laughing  goddess 
Uzume,  and  various  other  emblems  and  tokens 
of  Japanese  religion,  enjoyment,  and  superstition 
were  visible.  The  Japanese  fairy-tales,  which 
my  college  classmate,  son  of  our  American  min- 
ister in  Japan  had  told  me,  appeared  to  me  in 
new  lights.  Out  in  the  kitchen  I  could  see  the 
preparations  for  food,  the  cooking,  and  the 
household  economy  which  was  simple  enough. 
Many  hours  during  several  days  did  I  spend  in 
meditation  while  sitting  up  at  night  with  these 
wounded  men  and  during  the  day  assisting  them, 
especially  the  worst  wounded  one  of  the  two. 

The  outward  story  of  this  affair  has  been  told 
in  Adam's  History  of  Japan,  (Vol.  II.,  pp.  235-239) 
and  in  ''The  Mikado's  Empire  "  (pp.  374-377) but 
the  true  inwardness  is  better  expressed  in  Mr. 
Verbeck's  letters,  which  show  that  it  was  any- 
247 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

thing  but  one-sided.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  the 
government  that  they  acted  so  energetically, 
searching  every  house  in  Tokio  that  might  hold 
the  assassins  and  examining  every  sword  in  the 
city  to  see  whether  it  had  the  stain  of  blood  upon 
it — a  stain  which  only  grinding  will  remove.  I 
remember  distinctly  the  sense  of  importance  as 
well  as  the  fun  enjoyed  by  many  of  the  school- 
boys who  had  delegations  of  grave  inspectors 
visiting  them  to  see  their  swords,  which  had 
never  had  any  practice  beside  the  common  expe- 
rience which  dogs  and  cats  might  furnish.  The 
perpetrators  of  the  outrage,  arrested  some  months 
after  the  attack,  were  carefully  examined.  Two 
of  them  afterward  were  put  to  death  by  strangu- 
lation and  the  third  was  sentenced  to  ten  years 
of  hard  labor.  One  interesting  fact  was  brought 
out  that  the  government  had  made  a  new  com- 
pilation of  the  criminal  code  then  in  force,  which 
was  already  printed  and  accessible. 
Mr.  Verbeck's  account  by  letter  is  as  follows: 
"  You  will  probably  see  in  the  papers  that  two 
of  the  teachers  of  our  college  were  attacked  and 
badly  cut  in  the  streets  of  this  city.  This  is 
something  that  might  unexpectedly  happen  to 
any  of  us  here  and  our  merciful  Father  defend  us 
against  our  enemies,  the  haters  of  foreigners  and 
progress.  But  I  can  privately  assure  you  that  in 
the  present  instance  it  was  the  fault  of  the  suf- 
ferers, and  almost  a  punishment.  Whenever 
any  of  us  go  out  we  are  allowed  two  armed 
guards  to  follow  us.     We  have  twenty  such 

248 


Among  all  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men 

guards  belonging  to  the  college,  exclusively  for 
the  protection  of  the  foreign  teachers.  Of  late 
several  of  the  teachers  had  been  going  about 
without  guards,  and  only  a  week  before  the  at- 
tack I  had  given  all  the  teachers  official  notice 
that  they  were  desired  by  the  authorities  not  to 
do  so.  On  the  night  of  the  attack  two  of  them 
went  out  with  guards,  but  dismissed  them  at 
seven  o'clock,  an  hour  and  a  half  after  dark,  and 
were  attacked  from  behind  at  eight  and  one- 
fourth  o'clock  as  they  walked  on  in  the  dark 
street,  in  the  company  of  a  native  girl.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  they  were  on  an  errand  that  they 
wished  the  guards  not  to  know  of.  If  they  lived 
a  moral  life,  they  would  have  been  safe  enough 
that  night.  And  now  they  wish  to  throw  the 
blame  on  me  because  I  forbid  them  having  such 
girls  in  their  houses  in  the  school  lot  I  With  all 
this,  we  are  all  of  us  glad  that  they  escaped  with 
wounds  and  are  fast  recovering.  The  attack 
was  barbarous,  and  cowardly,  made  in  the  dark 
and  from  behind.  The  government  put  the 
whole  city  and  vicinity  in  a  regular  state  of  siege 
for  several  days  for  the  purpose  of  discovering 
the  culprits,  but  so  far  have  not  got  beyond  sus- 
picions.    It  is  to  be  hoped  they  will  be  found." 

I  spent  seven  weeks  of  life  under  Mr.  Ver- 
beck's  roof,  in  the  new  imperial  capital,  rambling 
in  the  nooks  and  corners  of  old  Yedo  as  well  as 
along  the  highways  full  of  the  new  sights  and 
scenes  of  the  shops  and  crowded  thoroughfares 
of  Tokio,  riding  out  to  visit  the  suburbs  and 

249 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

lovely  rural  places  and  the  famous  temples  and 
gardens.  1  studied  the  Japanese  language,  his- 
tory, and  geography  in  the  morning  and  spent  the 
afternoon  outdoors,  usually  with  mine  host,  in 
the  evening  reading  or  paying  visits  to  Ameri- 
cans or  Japanese  friends  in  Tokio,  but  always  se- 
curing an  hour  or  so  of  conversation  with  Mr. 
Verbeck.  His  evenings  were  usually  spent  in 
multifarious  labors,  but  before  bedtime,  he  re- 
freshed his  soul  with  music  and  his  spirit  with 
prayer.  To  this  hour,  I  can  remember  some  of 
his  favorite  strains  on  the  harmonium,  and  re- 
call that  when  he  played  in  public  worship  he 
liked  to  be  behind  a  screen. 

The  time  came  for  my  departure  to  Fukui. 
The  contract  and  papers  with  the  Fukui  officers, 
the  dinners  and  feastings  in  the  Echizen  Yashiki, 
the  meetings  with  daimios  and  the  famous  men 
of  new  Japan  were  over.  Before  I  left,  I  had 
also  taught  a  number  of  Japanese  in  various 
ways,  made  many  acquaintances,  had  seen  lordly 
Fuji  Yama  in  varied  splendors  of  sunrise  and  sun- 
set time,  now  a  pyramid  of  silver  against  velvety 
blue,  now  a  diadem  of  fire,  anon  a  table-land 
whose  crest  and  potencies  were  hidden  under 
defiant  clouds,  and  again  a  landmark  that  seemed 
to  wear  a  hood  of  white  vapors  that  foretold 
storm,  yet  ever  glorious  and  inspiring,  though 
sometimes  seeming  to  pour  upon  us  mortals  its 
disdain  of  our  weakness.  Coming  out  into  the 
glorious  air  and  under  the  cloudless  blue  sky, 
after  some  terrible  earthquake  that  silenced  all 
250 


Among  all  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men 

animal  nature  and  made  the  human  heart  sink, 
Fuji  seemed  to  look  down  with  cold  contempt  at 
human  weakness  rather  than  with  tender  pity. 
Fortunately  before  leaving  Tokio  I  enjoyed  with 
the  Japanese  their  New  Year's  congratulations, 
thus  revelling  in  the  delight  of  two  celebrations, 
one  Occidental,  the  other  Oriental. 

Mr.  Verbeck  wrote  on  the  22d  of  March,  1871 : 

**Our  college  is  as  prosperous  as  under  the 
circumstances  can  be  expected.  At  the  opening 
of  our  new  term  a  month  ago,  we  had  one  thou- 
sand students  minus  four,  more  than  two  hun- 
dred having  been  refused  admittance  for  want 
of  accommodation.  We  have  twelve  foreign 
teachers  besides  myself,  that  is,  for  the  three 
departments,  English,  French,  and  German.  By 
this  mail  I  again  send  a  few  students  home,  who 
will  probably  call  on  you  and  whom  I  again  take 
the  liberty  to  commend  to  your  kind  offices. 

**  I  consider  myself  highly  favored  by  our  heav- 
enly Father  in  having  been  permitted  to  receive 
my  wife  and  all  the  children  back  again.  I  can- 
not tell  you  how  wretched  I  was  without  them. 
We  shall  get  a  teacher  for  the  children  here  and 
make  a  home  school  for  them  in  our  house.  We 
feel  it  is  too  much  for  all  of  us  to  send  children 
under  twelve  away  from  home,  with  the  Pacific 
rolling  between.  We  shall  not  soon  repeat  the 
experiment." 

I  bade  my  host  good-bye  on  February  i6th. 
After  four  or  five  days  in  Yokohama  and  delight- 
ful visits  to  Kamakura,  enjoying  the  seashore  and 
251 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

the  storied  scenery,  I,  with  my  baggage  left  on 
the  steamer  Oregonian,  spending  Ash  Wednes- 
day and  Washington's  birthday  on  the  water, 
studying  also  Japan's  rocky  and  mountainous 
shore,  arriving  at  Kobe  on  the  23d,  to  meet  the 
first  missionary  of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  now  the 
veteran  Dr.  D.  C.  Greene.  Thence  by  way  of 
Osaka,  Otsu,  and  Tsuruga,  by  horse,  boat,  palan- 
quin, and  on  foot,  reached  Fukui  to  spend  in 
this  feudal  city,  under  the  shadow  of  its  castled 
towers  and  in  this  stronghold  of  Buddhism  nearly 
a  year  of  most  varied  and  in  the  main  delightful 
experiences,  described  in  part  in  ''The  Mikado's 
Empire."  On  the  breaking  up  of  the  feudal 
system,  I  was  called  by  the  Department  of  Edu- 
cation to  organize  a  polytechnic  school  in  Tokio, 
which  is  referred  to  in  Mr.  Verbeck's  letters.  I 
made  the  journey  overland  in  February,  1872,  to 
Tokio,  reaching  again  the  hospitable  home  to 
rest,  after  toil,  and  to  begin  a  three  years'  resi- 
dence in  the  great  city,  there  to  witness  amazing 
changes.^ 

Among  those  whom  I  called  on  in  Tokio  with 
Mr.  Verbeck  were  Fukuzawa,  the  reformer,  and 
Mr.  Arinori  Mori,  afterward  minister  in  Wash- 
ington, of  whom  Mr.  Verbeck  speaks: 

"This  time,  again  (January  21,  1871)  some  of 
my  acquaintances  come  seeking  our  centres  of 
civilization,  and  as  they  are  such  intelligent  and 
English-speaking  men  (I  refer  to  Mr.  Arinori 
Mori  and  his  party),  I  must  beg  of  you  to  excuse 

>  See  "  The  Mikado's  Empire." 
252 


Among  all  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men 

the  shortness  of  this  letter.  Mr.  Mori,  the  newly 
appointed  Consul-General  to  the  United  States, 
and  his  assistant  secretary,  Mr.  Yatabe,  can  tell 
you  a  good  deal  about  me  and  my  work. 

"  Mr.  Griffis  I  think  will  prove  to  be  the  right 
man  in  the  right  place.  In  a  few  days  it  is  to  be 
decided  whether  he  will  go  to  Echizen  or  stay 
here." 

Yatabe  came  to  Cornell  University  and  return- 
ing to  Japan  made  his  mark  in  literature,  science, 
especially  in  botany,  and  lost  his  life  by  drown- 
ing in  1899. 

"I  am  in  the  midst  of  reforming  and  reorgan- 
izing the  school.  It  is  likely  that  after  all  I  shall 
call  Mr.  Griffis  here  to  this  school." 

The  last  reference  is  to  the  Polytechnic  School, 
a  proposal  to  found  which  I  had  made,  while  in 
Fukui,  to  the  Minister  of  Education. 

In  Tokio,  I  found  Mrs.  Verbeck,  with  the  chil- 
dren back  in  Japan  and  at  home.  A  glimpse  of 
the  father  is  caught  from  one  of  Colonel  William 
Verbeck's  letters  to  a  friend,  in  1899: 

"Those  were  happy  days  to  me.  My  dear 
father  made  my  childhood  and  boyhood  days 
more  happy  and  beautiful  to  remember  than  it  is 
the  lot  of  many  people  to  have.  He  was  father, 
big  brother,  and  chum  to  us  all.  Shut  off  from 
the  amusements  and  companionships  of  children, 
in  this  country,  our  father  was  more  to  us  than 
can  be  imagined.  He  was  an  ideal  playmate. 
Athletic  as  he  was,  he  could  outrun  and  out- 
jump  any  of  us.    He  entered  with  great  zest  into 

253 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

all  outdoor  sports.  He  was  a  beautiful  story 
teller,  and  he  was  charged  with  Dutch  fairy-tales 
and  German  Black  Forest  robber  stories.  As  you 
undoubtedly  remember,  he  had  a  beautiful  bari- 
tone voice.  He  had  such  a  sympathetic  voice 
that  we  could  not  easily  forget  his  songs.  I 
even  remember  the  lullabies  he  sung  to  me  in 
Nagasaki.  He  played  chess  and  checkers  with 
us,  and  did  everything  to  amuse  and  interest  us, 
and  in  his  play  we  always  learned  something. 
He  had  a  great  passion  for  scientific  toys  and 
always  kept  us  loaded  down  with  them.  With 
him  as  our  playmate,  our  playtime  was  school, 
and  our  schooling  under  his  tutelage  was  a  liberal 
education.  Knowing  these  things  as  you  do, 
you  can  appreciate  what  we  have  lost  in  losing 
Vy  such  a  father." 


254 


XIII 


THE  GREAT  EMBASSY  TO  CHRISTENDOM 

Probably  the  most  remarkable  event  of  the 
year  1871  was  the  dispatch  of  the  great  embassy 
to  Christendom,  that  is,  to  America  and  Europe, 
of  which  it  may  be  said,  without  any  exagger- 
ation whatever,  that  Guido  F.  Verbeck  was  the 
originator  and  organizer,  as  we  shall  see. 

From  Tokio,  November  21,  1871,  Mr.  Verbeck 
wrote: 

"  Yesterday  morning  I  rose  as  the  clock  struck 
four,  was  engaged  all  day,  finishing  off  with  an 
interview  with  the  United  States  Minister  and 
the  Prime  Minister  of  Japan,  which  lasted  from 
five  to  eleven  o'clock  p.  m.  On  Friday  last,  the 
17th  inst.,  I  had  the  honor  of  an  audience  with 
the  emperor. 

"The  government  is  going  to  send  a  very 
superior  embassy  to  America  and  Europe.  I 
shall  give  some  of  the  members  letters  (special) 
to  you.  The  ambassadors  expect  to  sail  on  the 
22d  December  for  San  Francisco.  The  chief 
of  the  embassy  is  the  father  of  Tatsu  and  Asahi 
(of  New  Brunswick),  the  Prime  Minister  and 
most  influential  man  in  the  empire.  It  is  my 
hope  and  prayer  that  the  sending  of  this  mission 
may  do  very  much  to  bring  about,  or  at  least 

255 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

bring  nearer,  the  long  longed-for  toleration  of 
Christianity." 

This  last  was  one  of  the  first  direct  results  of 
the  embassy  (which  Mr.  Verbeck  had  planned 
two  years  before),  as  we  shall  see.  One  month 
later  the  diligent  and  happy  missionary  who  had 
already,  "stood  before  kings,"  wrote  to  Dr. 
Ferris : 

"I  also  enclose  a  letter  of  introduction  to  Mr. 
Iwakura,  who  knows  me  very  well.  He  is  Tatsu 
and  Asahi's  father,  the  second  man  after  the 
emperor.  I  have  had  more  to  do  with  the  getting 
up  of  this  mission  than  1  could  now  say,  nor  would 
I  have  such  a  thing  even  distantly  hinted  at  in  pub- 
lic, unless  the  Japanese  should  choose  to  do  so 
from  their  side.     I  like  to  work  silently. 

"  By  this  mail,  too,  I  must  beg  of  you  to  be 
satisfied  with  these  scanty,  shabby  lines.  I  am 
very  busy  for  my  friends  going  abroad  by  this 
mail.  In  the  Tribune  you  will  see  the  best 
account  of  the  embassy.  Eight  or  nine  of  the 
names  are  of  former  scholars  of  mine.  We  pray 
that  the  results  may  be  good,  and  further,  under 
the  Divine  blessing,  the  boon  of  religious  toler- 
ation.   I  have  worked  it  in  that  direction  all  1  could. 

''Would  you  kindly  send  the  enclosures  to 
Mrs.  Doremus  and  Mr.  Dodge  with  my  compli- 
ments? I  told  Mr.  Iwakura  that  I  gave  these 
letters.  If  Mrs.  Doremus  would  take  several 
ladies  with  her  to  plead  the  cause  of  female  edu- 
cation, I  am  sure  it  would  please  and  have  a  good 
effect." 

256 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

We  need  only  add  that  "female  education"  in 
Japan  received  a  powerful  influence  because  of 
the  interest  of  Mr.  Iwakura  in  the  advancement 
of  women. 

One  prominent  object  of  the  embassy  was  to 
secure  the  removal  of  the  extra  territoriality 
clause  in  the  treaties,  that  Japan  might  receive 
full  recognition  as  a  sovereign  state.  For  this, 
however,  the  envoys  were  not,  as  our  American 
Minister,  Hon.  Chas.  H.  DeLong,  told  me  before 
they  started,  armed  with  full  powers  from  the 
emperor.  So  after  reaching  the  United  States, 
Okubo  returned  to  Japan  to  secure  the  necessary 
authorization.  This  did  but  give  Mr.  Verbeck  a 
further  opportunity  of  helping  his  friends.  He 
wrote  under  date  of  June  22d,  1872: 

"  My  dear  Brother  Ferris, 

"Enclosed  I  again  take  the  liberty  to 
send  you  a  first  of  exchange  to  go  by  halves  to 
Mayeda  and  Takahasi.  I  am  so  crowded  for 
time  again,  that  I  can  just  only  fill  this  one  page. 
For  words  I  send  you  some  more  of  my  work. 
With  their  Excellencies  Ito  [now  1900,  for  the 
fifth  time  premier  of  Japan],  Okubo  and  Tera- 
shima,  [afterward  minister  at  Washington,]  come 
some  more  of  my  pupils,  especially  Dr.  Okada, 
whom  I  hope  you  may  meet.  The  Lord  is  lead- 
ing this  people  wonderfully." 

Let  us  now  glance  at  the  inside  history  of  that 
great  visitation  of  Japan's  leading  statesmen  to 
the  western  countries  which  resulted  in  definitely 

257 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

and  permanently  committing  her  people  to  vital 
union  with  the  nations  of  Christendom.  On 
August  I,  1872,  Mr.  Verbeck  wrote  to  Dr. 
Ferris : 

**  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  last 
kind  letter.  From  it  I  infer  that  this  will  not  per- 
haps find  you  at  your  office,  though  it  may  come 
after  your  vacation.  I  am  in  vacation  too ;  but  to 
show  you  that  vacation  sometimes  may  mean 
extra  work,  I  send  you  under  other  cover  two 
copies  of  specimens  of  this  extra  work. 

"You  ask  me  for  something  for  publication; 
but  I  am  sorry  to  say  that — even  if  otherwise 
they  were  of  a  general  interest— I  can  by  no 
means  offer  either  of  these  papers  to  the  public. 
My  usefulness  in  this  country  would  be  at  an 
end,  if  I  made  a  show  of  what  I  do.  It  is  just 
because  these  people  know  that  I  do  not,  like 
many,  tell  all  about  what  I  do  and  know  about 
them,  that  they  have  implicit  confidence  in  me. 
One  of  the  papers,  on  the  'press,'  ^  is  a  common 
thing  enough.  The  other  is  of  more  importance. 
It,  in  fact,  as  Iwakura,  the  Prime  Minister  and 
Chief  Ambassador,  told  me  more  than  once, 
'  helped  to  help '  the  government  out  of  a  great 
difficulty,  and  started  off  the  embassy  such  as  it 
passed  through  the  States.  I  wish  I  could  see 
you  and  tell  you  all,  just  as  it  happened.  But  I 
can  give  you  the  merest  outline  at  present. 

**  When  I  came  to  Yedo  in  1869,  a  strong  anti- 

^An   elaborate   plea   for  the  freedom  of  the  press,  which 
belongs  to  the  history  of  journalism  in  Japan. 
258 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

foreign  feeling  pervaded  the  nation,  happily  but 
for  a  short  time.  But  influential  friends  spoke  to 
me  of  an  embassy  abroad  as  among  the  proba- 
bilities of  that  fall  or  winter.  This  suggested  to 
me  the  composition  of  the  paper,  which  on  or 
about  the  nth  June,  1869,  I  privately  sent  to 
my  friend  Okuma,  one  of  the  leading  men  at  the 
time  and  now.  Satisfied  with  its  having  reached 
his  hands,  I  left  the  matter  there,  never  spoke  or 
inquired  further  about  it,  and  not  hearing  about 
it  from  the  parties  addressed,  I  gave  it  up  as  so 
much  matter  thrown  away.  In  the  meantime, 
time  rolled  on,  until  the  government  was  very 
much  perplexed  at  the  near  approach  of  the  time 
appointed  for  the  revision  of  all  the  foreign 
treaties:  the  5th  July,  1872. 

"On  the  26th  October,  1871,  Iwakura  re- 
quested me  to  call  on  him.  After  the  common 
demands  of  etiquette  were  satisfied: 

'"Did  you  not  write  a  paper  and  hand  it  to 
one  of  your  chief  officers  ? '  was  his  first  ques- 
tion. 

"  *I  do  not  recollect;  please  be  plainer.' 

"  'Something,  a  good  while  ago,  that  you  sent 
to  Okuma.' 

**I,  reflecting:  'Ah!  two  years  ago,  or  more? 
About  an  embassy  to  Europe  and  America?'  A 
significant  nod  of  his  Excellency's  head. 

**  I  answered,  *  At  that  time  it  would  have  been 
the  thing.  I  hardly  remember  all  the  particulars 
now.  The  times  have  changed;  it  might  not  be 
expedient  now.' 

259   , 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

* '  It  is  just  the  very  thing  now.  I  have  not 
seen  the  paper  yet,  only  heard  of  it  three  days 
ago.  I  am  to  have  the  translation  to-morrow. 
But  please  tell  me  all  you  remember  of  it  now.' 

*' And  so  we  went  on  and  finally  appointed  an 
interview  three  days  later,  the  29th  October, 
to  go  over  the  whole  ground  once  more,  paper 
in  hand.  And  so  we  did,  clause  by  clause.  At 
the  end  he  told  me  it  was  the  very  and  the  only 
thing  for  them  to  do,  and  that  my  programme 
should  be  carried  out  to  the  letter.  A  number 
of  interviews  followed,  some  of  them  till  late  in 
the  night. 

"The  embassy  is  organized  according  to  my 
paper  (that  I  had  sown  in  faith  more  than  two 
years  before).  It  sailed  in  two  months  from  the 
date  of  my  paper  becoming  known  to  Iwakura 
and  the  emperor.  How  could  they  get  over  the 
perplexity  of  the  near  revision  of  the  treaties? 
If  Iwakura  was  not  on  the  spot,  no  revision  could 
take  place  at  all.  How  could  they  qualify  them- 
selves for  the  great  task  ?  By  carrying  out  my 
program.  I  had  the  appointment  of  two  of  the 
members  of  the  embassy,  though  not  chief  mem- 
bers. I  laid  out  the  route  for  them  to  follow. 
But  all  this  is  nothing,  compared  to  that  which 
lies  nearest  our  hearts.  I  count  all  parts  but  loss 
for  those  that  touch  on  our  cause  and  toleration. 
If  the  Master  on  this  and  other  occasions  has 
given  me  an  opportunity  to  show  this  people 
what  toleration  really  is,  and  what  is  expected  of 
them  in  regard  to  it,  this  is  what  makes  me  say : 

260 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

'  Biess  the  Lord,  Oh  my  soul!'  And  that  the 
men  on  whom  it  most  depends,  had  mistaken  it, 
and  understand  it  now,  I  have  had  many  proofs 
of  since. 

**You  may  ask,  why  did  Okuma  keep  this 
paper  so  long  to  himself  ?  I  asked  so  too,  I  was 
told  that  Okuma  (a  former  pupil  of  mine)  at  the 
time  I  gave  it,  a  time  of  intense  anti-foreign  feel- 
ing, (1869),  was  afraid  to  show  it  to  any  one, 
because  it  might  have  endangered  his  high  po- 
sition, as  he  was  already  suspected  by  many 
conservatives  to  be  a  convert.  But  after  a  while 
he  showed  it  to  his  friends  and  colleagues  and 
thus  it  did  its  work  quietly,  till  it  reached  head- 
quarters, just  at  the  most  opportune  moment. 

"  I  assure  you  I  felt  ashamed  of  my  impatience. 
I  learned  once  more  in  a  striking  manner  that 
God's  time  is  not  man's  time.  But  I  fear  you 
will  not  appreciate  and  understand  (excuse  me) 
all  this,  because  you  cannot  know  all  the  circum- 
stances involved.  But  it  will  show  you  at  least 
that,  if  I  do  not  have  much  to  say  or  write  for 
publication,  I  am  not  wasting  my  time  and  op- 
portunities altogether,  and  that  while  I  am  os- 
tensibly engaged  in  educational  pursuits,  I  have 
the  greatest  cause  of  all  at  heart  and  in  hand,  as 
God  gives  opportunities. 

"Now  all  this  I  only  write  to  you  and  not  to 
the  public;  for,  as  I  said  before,  publishing  such 
things  would  be  directly  contrary  to  my  invari- 
able principles  of  operation,  would  ruin  my  repu- 
tation, and  make  me  lose  the  confidence  of  the 

261 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

people,  which  it  has  taken  me  twelve  years  to 
gain  in  a  small  degree.  Besides,  there  is  a  tacit 
understanding  between  Iwakura  and  myself,  that 
I  shall  leave  the  outward  honor  of  initiating  this 
embassy  to  themselves.  And  who  cares  for  the 
mere  name  and  honor,  if  we  are  sure  to  reap  the 
benefits,  toleration  and  its  immense  conse- 
quences, partly  now,  but  surely  after  the  return 
of  this  embassy  ? 

"Moreover,  there  is  quite  a  band  of  foreign 
ministers  and  consuls,  who  look  with  envy  on 
me  and  my  doings,  and  it  would  not  be  right  or 
expedient  wantonly  to  stir  up  their  ire.  I  prefer 
to  work  on  quietly  and  at  peace  with  all.  Each 
man  has  his  sphere  of  action;  I  like  to  keep 
within  mine  without  intruding  myself  on  others. 
The  name  is  nothing,  the  real  results  are  all. 
Except  to  an  old  friend  and  a  brother,  like  you,  I 
would  not  have  ventured  to  write  the  above,  for 
fear  of  being  misunderstood.  Please  receive  it 
in  charity  and  confidence.  Dr.  Williams  (of 
Peking)  is  staying  here  a  day  or  two.  Ise  is 
coming  out  this  mail.  Yagimoto  cannot  come 
at  present. 

**  Please  excuse  this  hasty  conclusion,  and  be- 
lieve me,  with  fraternal  regards, 

**  Faithfully  yours, 

**G.  F.  Verbeck. 

"  Rev.  J.  M.  Ferris,  D.  D." 

The  original  document  proposing  and  outlining 
the   purpose  of  the  great  embassy,  which  so 

262 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

augustly  introduced  Japan  to  the  world,  is  in  Mr. 
Verbeck's  own  handwriting  and  covers  twelve 
foolscap  pages.  In  it  he  recommends  that  all 
parties,  political  and  religious,  should  be  repre- 
sented and  full  details  of  organization  and  route 
are  given.  It  is  subscribed  "Sent  to  Okuma, 
nth  June,  1869.  Came  up  the  26th  and  29th 
October,  1871." 

Probably  the  best  book  descriptive  of  the  em- 
bassy is  Mr.  Charles  Lanman's  "The  Japanese  in 
America,"  New  York,  1872. 

More  mighty  in  work  than  in  word.  Dr.  Ver- 
beck's  letter  of  February  22,  1873,  which  apolo- 
gized for  his  long  silence,  showed  also  that  he 
was  longing  for  change  and  rest. 

"My  silence  is  by  no  means  owing  to  forget- 
fulness  or  common  neglect  but  to  an  absolute 
want  of  time.  With  the  supervision  of  a  school 
having  near  500  students,  eighteen  teachers  of 
four  different  nationalities,  with  many  applica- 
tions for  advice  or  instruction  at  my  house,  with 
constantly  one  or  other  of  the  great  topics  of  re- 
form in  hand,  for  research  or  essay  writing,  and 
with  a  large  family,— with  all  these  to  be  daily 
and  hourly  attended  to,  it  happens,  not  unfre- 
quently  that  I  have  to  stint  myself  in  my  hours  of 
sleep.  The  effect  of  all  this  is  that  I  am  become 
very  nervous  and  inelastic.  I  feel  the  want  of  a 
change,  if  not  of  positive  recreation,  to  recover 
my  nerves  and  elasticity  of  body  and  mind. 
With  this  view  I  have  applied  for  a  seven  months' 
leave  of  absence,  to  be  taken  between  this  and 

263 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

the  close  of  the  year.  If  I  can  get  it  and  can 
leave  my  post  so  long,  1  shall,  the  Lord  being 
willing,  leave  in  a  month  or  two  by  the  India 
route,  spend  a  couple  of  months  there,  and  re- 
turn by  the  states  hither." 

;  One  of  the  first  results  of  the  embassy  was  the 
'  opening  of  the  eyes  of  these  men  so  long  **  her- 
mits in  the  world's  market-place,"  or  rather, 
"  frogs  in  a  well "  as  their  own  proverbs  describe 
them,  and  as  they  laughingly  called  themselves, 
to  the  fact  that  Christianity  was  the  force  of 
forces  in  true  civilization.  With  reflection  came 
action.  To  make  a  long  story  short,  the  im- 
perial ministers  abroad  telegraphed  back  to  the 
government  of  Japan  their  impressions.  The  re- 
I  suit  was  that  the  anti-Christian  edicts  hung  up  on 
I  the  notice  boards  disappeared  like  magic.  I  re- 
member very  well  how  the  particular  edict  board 
so  long  hanging  with  the  others  at  Nippon  Bashi 
did  on  a  certain  morning  "glare  by  its  absence." 
Although  1  tried  hard  to  get  one  of  these  as  a 
curiosity,  I  could  not  succeed.  Others  were 
more  successful.  At  the  museum  held  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Ecumenical  Council  of  Missions  in 
May,  1900,  in  New  York,  there  were  three  speci- 
mens, one  containing  the  text  of  1683.  There 
are  others  in  the  museums  in  Japan.  The  time 
for  which  Verbeck  of  Japan  had  long  prayed  and 
hoped  for  was  coming. 

Ever  alert  to  his  opportunities,   Mr.  Verbeck 
had  also  foreseen  the  time  when  Christianity 
would  be  recognized  as  a  tolerated  form  of  faith 
264 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

and  not  as  sorcery,  or  a  thing  to  be  outlawed. 
Religion  in  Japan  had  for  ages  been  a  political 
engine,  a  matter  of  priests  and  corporations,  for 
revenue  and  control  of  conscience.  The  free, 
spontaneous  action  of  intelligent  men  who  formed 
religious  societies  in  order  to  educate  and  govern 
themselves  and  who  regulated  their  own  property 
was  a  thing  unknown  in  Japan.  The  idea  of  lay 
trustees  free  from  the  dictate  of  priests,  parsons, 
or  other  religious  men  of  the  official  class,  was 
something  wholly  new  to  the  Japanese  and  as  I 
have  reason  to  know,  Mr.  Verbeck's  suggestions 
were  gratefully  welcomed.  As  we  now  see, 
Japanese  public  opinion  is  nearly  ripe  for  the 
adopting  of  legislation  that  will  show  that  in  re- 
ligious freedom,  they  are  ahead  of  some  nations 
of  Europe. 

He  wrote: 

"The  great  and  glorious  event  of  the  day  is 
that,  about  a  week  ago,  the  edicts  prohibiting  the 
introduction  of  foreign  religions  have  been  re- 
moved by  command  of  the  government  from  the 
public  law-boards  throughout  the  country!  It  is 
equivalent  to  granting  toleration!  The  Lord  be 
praised ! 

"  Hoping  for  the  approach  of  this  good  time,  I 
handed  it  to  his  Excellency,  the  Minister  of  Re- 
ligious Affairs — quite  privately,  as  I  usually 
manage  such  business  with  my  native  friends — a 
'  Rough  Sketch  of  Laws  and  Regulations  for  the 
Better  Control  of  Church  Affairs  in  Japan,'  a  few 
days  before  the  removal  of  the  edicts.     My  object 

265 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

was  to  show  what  might,  rather  than  what 
ought  to  be  done  in  this  direction.  My  sketch 
was  drawn  up  under  eighteen  heads,  with  eighty- 
one  articles  in  all.  The  heads  were  as  follows: 
The  congregation,  churches,  church  property, 
creeds,  the  priesthood,  clerical  jurisdiction,  re- 
ligious meetings,  rites,  ceremonies,  feasts  and 
holidays,  religious  notices,  religious  societies,  and 
orders,  seminaries,  the  priesthood,  religious  con- 
nection of  children,  cemeteries,  charitable  institu- 
tions, religious  publications,  miscellaneous,  penal- 
ties and  punishments.  When  I  come  to  Europe 
and  America,  I  intend  to  take  a  copy  with  me,  to 
submit  to  good  and  learned  men  for  advice  and 
criticism. 

"I  wish  I  could  send  you  something  to  print 
(which  the  above  is  not) ;  but  I  find  it  quite  im- 
possible at  present.  I  fear  it  is  not  my  gift  to 
write  for  publication,  and  I  must  beg  of  you  and 
the  respected  board  of  directors  to  let  me  do 
things  in  my  own  silent  way,  for  a  while  at 
least." 

And  they  did.  Wise,  generous,  charitable, 
liberal-minded  ''Calvinists,"  as  they  were,  they 
shamed  the  "Liberals"  who  often  made  merry 
over  '* orthodoxy"  and  '* narrowness."  How 
empty  are  names,  and  how  often  must  *'  He  who 
sitteth  in  the  heavens  "  laugh  at  men  who  without 
light  or  knowledge  judge  each  other.  Mr.  Ver- 
beck also  wrote : 

"  I  inclose  a  small  photograph  of  myself  bow- 
ing to  the  emperor,  when  he  visited  our  college 

266 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

last  year.  The  ornamentation  of  the  hall  is  my 
work." 

The  occasion  referred  to  was  when  the  em- 
peror named  of  old  the  Mikado,  "Son  of 
Heaven,"  "Tenno,"  Dairi,  and  "Possessor  of 
the  Dragon  Countenance  "  acted  like  a  delightful 
human  being  and  visited  the  University.  To 
make  a  fitting  hall  and  seat  Mr.  Verbeck  spent 
anxious  hours,  and  enwrapping  one  of  his  best 
parlor  chairs  with  his  wife's  India  shawl,  fur- 
nished a  temporary  throne  for  the  most  interesting 
of  Asia's  monarchs.  The  scene  absurdly  ideal- 
ized to  suit  reactionary  and  imperial  Prussian 
notions  was  duly  set  forth  in  an  illustrated  paper. 
h  resembled  the  actual  scene  at  which  I  was 
present  during  several  hours  as  do  certain  Ger- 
man works  in  history,  theology,  and  biography 
may  be  supposed  to  resemble  reality,  useful  as 
they  are. 

It  was  time  now  for  the  weary  worker  who 
had  toiled  during  fourteen  years,  in  a  way  to 
shame  bees  or  beavers,  to  rest  He  had  lived  to 
see  a  nation  moved,  toleration  won,  fanaticism 
receive  its  deathblow,  a  Christian  church  organ- 
ized, persecution  abandoned,  priest-craft  re- 
buked. Buddhism  disestablished,  and  civilization 
in  its  thousand  forms  adopted,  by  the  Japanese. 

His  proposal  to  leave  Japan  for  recuperation 
was  duly  carried  out  as  we  see  by  his  letter  dated 
Zeist,  July  lo,  1873. 

"You  will  be  surprised  to  receive  a  letter  from 
me  at  this  time,  or  rather  not  ere  this  time,  and 

267 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

from  this  place,  the  place  of  my  birth.  The 
simple  fact  is,  the  past  six  years  of  actually  unin- 
terrupted labor  has  brought  me  to  such  a  state  of 
nervous  weakness  that  I  could  hardly  write  con- 
nectedly. It  was  therefore  necessary  that  1 
should  leave  Japan,  for  a  short  time  to  recover 
my  health.  So  I  obtained  six  months'  leave  of 
absence,  and  sailed  from  Yokohama  for  England 
(by  Suez)  on  the  i6th  April.  I  had  to  tear 
myself  away,  to  flee,  as  it  were,  from  my  post 
and  numerous  friends.  On  the  14th  June  I 
arrived  in  London.  Thence  I  made  a  hasty  trip 
to  Switzerland  to  see  his  Excellency  Iwakura, 
who  was  on  the  point  of  returning  to  Japan. 
Then  I  came  here,  where  I  have  been  since  the 
second  instant.  Soon  after  leaving  Yokohama,  I 
found  that  I  could  not  well  travel  without  my 
dear  wife.  I  therefore  wrote  her  to  come  on  by 
the  next  mail,  if  she  possibly  could.  To-morrow 
I  go  to  Southampton  to  see  if  she  has  come. 
Then,  after  attending  to  some  school  business  in 
London,  I  return  to  the  continent  for  a  trip  on 
the  Rhine  and  perhaps  to  Vienna,  in  such  a  way 
that  (d.  v.)  I  reach  New  York  early  in  Septem- 
ber, when  I  hope  to  have  the  great  pleasure  of 
seeing  you." 

Sailing  from  Liverpool  August  28,  Mr.  Verbeck 
arrived  at  Jersey  City  September  7,  and  spent 
some  days  in  New  York,  seeing  a  few  friends. 
He  crossed  the  continent  and  sailed  for  Japan 
from  San  Francisco,  October  i. 

His  first  experiences  on  arriving  upon  his  old 

268 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

field  of  labor  were  not  particularly  happy  and  for 
reasons  which  are  best  revealed  in  the  summary 
of  the  situation,  which  I  proceed  herewith  to  give. 

I  remember  how  early  in  the  year  1874,  a  great 
change  came  over  the  administration  of  educa- 
tion in  Tokio  and  especially  in  the  management 
of  the  Imperial  University.  It  was  as  though  the 
demons  of  partisan  politics,  nepotism,  and  spoils 
had  broken  loose  in  a  city  where  formerly  the 
oversight  of  education  had  been  kept  free  from 
such  wasting  forces.  At  first  I  could  not  under- 
stand it,  notwithstanding  that  I  knew  that  the 
government  was  practically  administered  by  the 
men  of  one  clan.  In  the  rapacity  for  office,  they 
had  put  in  men  who  were  evidently  better  ac- 
quainted with  machine  politics  than  with  modern 
education  and  culture.  The  whole  social  climate 
seemed  to  have  changed.  Instead  of  courtesy 
and  appreciation  I  found  myself  with  many 
others  receiving  treatment  far  from  courteous. 

One  of  the  first  things  attempted  to  be  done 
was  to  abolish  Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest  to  the 
foreign  teachers.  This  was  in  direct  violation  of 
solemn  promises  made  them  and  of  the  stipula- 
tions in  the  written  contract.  Evidently  it 
seemed  to  the  politicians  in  charge  and  to  the 
men  of  the  Department  of  Education  who  were 
behind  them,  that  they  could  arbitrarily  break 
faith  in  order  to  carry  out  their  plans.  As  there 
were  more  Japanese  holidays  than  Sundays  in 
each  month,  it  was  doubtless  expected  by  them 
that  the  foreigners  would  yield.     In  this  they 

269 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

reckoned  without  their  quest.  At  least  one  man 
was  determined  not  to  stand  such  treachery. 

At  the  first  opportunity,  after  notice  of  inten- 
tions to  violate  contracts  had  been  served,  I  went 
to  see  the  English-speaking  teachers  and  profess- 
ors, both  British  and  American.  All  agreed  to 
protest  against  the  changing  of  rest  days  from 
Sunday  to  the  "Ichiroku"  or  the  one-and-six 
days  in  each  month,  viz,  the  first,  sixth, 
eleventh,  sixteenth,  and  twenty-sixth  days  of 
each  Japanese  lunar  month.  We  based  our  pro- 
test and  refusal  not  only  upon  contracts  already 
made,  but  upon  the  fact  that  the  rest  day  of  aF 
Christian  nations,  and  especially  of  the  countries 
from  whence  we  came,  was  on  Sunday,  and  we 
did  not  wish  to  expatriate  ourselves  while  serv- 
ing in  a  foreign  land,  though  perfectly  willing  to 
teach  as  we  had  always  done,  on  Saturdays, 
though  that  too  is  a  holiday  with  most  schools  at 
home. 

This  action  on  the  part  of  the  American  in 
Japan,  though  done  with  all  courtesy,  so  far  as 
known,  immediately  aroused  the  wrath  of  the 
gentleman  then  in  control  who  stands  in  memory 
as  the  typical  Japanese  politician  and  spoilsman, 
about  as  closely  resembling  the  American  **boss" 
as  any  creature  ever  met  with.  The  subsequent 
proceedings  of  this  specimen  politician  show  the 
closeness  of  the  comparison;  for,  very  soon 
afterward,  notice  was  served  upon  the  Ameri- 
can teacher  that  his  contract  would  not  be  re- 
newed.   As  the  American  had  no  idea  of  remain- 

270 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

ing  in  the  country  beyond  his  first  engagement, 
this  caused  no  inconvenience,  but  to  receive  this 
sort  of  treatment  from  a  petty  underling  was 
neither  fair  nor  honorable,  nor  calculated  to  raise 
the  character  or  reputation  of  the  Japanese  gov- 
ernment or  its  contracts. 

Without  further  communication  with  the  lower 
authorities.  I  dropped  a  note  to  Mr.  Iwakura,  the 
junior  prime  minister,  simply  stating  the  case. 
The  matter  was  very  quickly  settled  to  my  satis- 
faction. Another  position  of  equal  honor  and 
emolument  for  three  years  was  offered  me, 
which  I  declined  with  thanks.  The  department 
of  education,  with  courteous  consideration,  de- 
sired to  know  my  wants.  I  expressed  them  and 
received  at  once  a  new  engagement  of  six  months 
which  enabled  me  to  return  home  at  a  convenient 
period,  in  the  summer,  and  after  finishing  my 
travels  and  journeys  in  Central  and  Northern 
Japan. 

It  was  not  very  long  after  this,  that  the  Japa- 
nese government  and  department  of  education 
found  that  the  favorites  of  men  in  high  office 
were  less  valuable  than  trained  educators,  and 
the  passionate  instinct  of  clanship  less  useful  for 
the  administration  of  a  great  university,  than 
men  of  intellect  and  scholarship.  A  new  head 
of  the  university  was  chosen,  who  filled  his  po- 
sition with  honor  and  ability. 

The  next  matter  that  loomed  upon  the  horizon 
was  the  Formosan  affair,  of  which  Mr.  Verbeck 
writes  as  follows : 

271 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

"  The  country  is  in  quite  a  turmoil  on  account 
of  the  presumed  nearness  of  a  war  with  China. 
Early  in  the  spring  an  expedition  of  about  3,000 
landing  troops  was  sent  to  Formosa.  The  ob- 
ject of  the  expedition  was  to  punish  some  bar- 
barous tribes  for  the  wanton  murder  of  a  num- 
ber of  Loo-chooans,  and  the  objective  point  was 
on  the  eastern  coasts,  which  part  of  the  island 
was  supposed  not  to  be  under  Chinese  jurisdic- 
tion. In  fact,  according  to  Japanese  accounts, 
Japan  has  previously  negotiated  with  China  about 
this  matter,  and  China  had  then  disclaimed  sov- 
ereignty over  the  coasts  in  question;  yet  now 
she  not  only  claims  sovereignty  there,  but  stren- 
uously insists  that  the  Japanese  must  forthwith 
evacuate  these  parts. 

"  In  the  immediate  objects  of  the  expedition, 
the  Japanese  were  completely  successful.  If  then 
they  had  immediately  withdrawn  their  troops, 
the  effect  on  China  would  doubtless  have  been 
very  salutary,  in  teaching  her  to  respect  her  ac- 
tive valorous  neighbor.  But  unfortunately  the 
Japanese  are  thought  to  have  been  allured  prob- 
ably by  their  prompt  success,  to  enter  on  plans 
of  colonization,  and  these  China  very  naturally 
cannot  brook  on  an  island,  at  least  two-thirds  of 
which  is  under  her  rightful  sway.  So  the  mat- 
ter now  stands:  both  nations  preparing  for  a 
struggle,  but  neither  having  declared  war  as  yet. 
A  Japanese  ambassador  is  at  Peking  now;  but  it 
is  supposed  that  he  can  achieve  little  while  the 
Japanese  occupation  of  Formosa  continues.    A 

272 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

large  indemnity  paid  by  China  to  Japan  is  one  of 
the  possible  solutions  of  the  difficulty  spoken  of. 
The  alternative  is  war,  and  in  that  case,  it  might 
not  be  difficult  to  prognosticate  the  issue.  If  the 
war  is  a  short  and  decisive  one,  Japan  will  prob- 
ably carry  her  point,  whatever  that  be  ;  in  a  pro- 
tracted war  the  immense  size  and  resources  of 
China  will  probably  carry  the  day.  In  either 
case,  our  hope  is  that  the  apparently  unfortunate 
affair  will  be  overruled  for  the  good  of  either  one 
of  these  nations  or  of  both  together. 

"  In  the  meantime,  progress  is  visible  in  all  de- 
partments. The  educational  system  is  develop- 
ing; the  native  churches  are  unmolested;  various 
modern  improvements  are  introduced;  and  alto- 
gether long  promise  seems  at  last  to  ripen  into 
execution  and  substantial  results. 

"We  have  had  an  unusually  short,  but  an  un- 
usually hot  summer,  though  we  can  hardly  be 
said  to  be  past  it  yet, —Dr.  Talmage  and  family 
gave  us  a  very  pleasant  call  on  their  way  to 
Amoy." 

It  was  just  about  this  time,  besides  enjoying  at 
our  home  in  Tokio  a  visit  from  the  two  daughters 
of  Iwakura,  my  sister  and  I  were  invited  to  a  din- 
ner at  the  premier's  house.  I  shall  never  forget 
how,  when  an  American  lady,  wife  of  Dr.  David 
Murray,  asked  of  Mr.  Iwakura  what  had  most 
impressed  him  during  his  travels  round  the 
world,  the  premier  answered  without  a  moment's 
hesitation:  "The  strength  of  the  central  govern-  * 
ment  at  Washington.    In  a  monarchy  I  could 

273 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

understand  it.  How  it  could  be  so  in  a  republic, 
I  could  not." 

It  was  mainly  by  the  firmness  of  Iwakura  that 
the  Korean  war  project  had  been  crushed.  The 
Formosan  affair  also  ended  peacefully.  Mr.  Ver- 
beck wrote : 

*'The  country  is  overflowing  with  rejoicings 
at  the  successful  termination  of  the  Formosan 
question.  War,  with  all  its  horrors,  has  been 
happily  avoided,  the  Japanese  having  carried  all 
the  main  points:  the  savages  of  Formosa  have 
been  chastised;  China  pays  an  indemnity;  the 
peculiar  dangers  of  the  Formosan  coasts  are  re- 
moved for  the  future.  By  this  last,  Japan  has 
placed  all  seafaring  nations  in  these  parts  under 
obligation." 

The  only  comment  the  biographer  need  make 
is,  that  it  is  at  least  probable  that  had  war  come 
at  that  time,  Japan  with  her  closer  unity  would 
have  won,  for  it  is  even  yet  doubtful  whether 
the  Chinese  are  a  nation  or  only  a  race.  How- 
ever, it  was  left  in  the  course  of  Providence 
that  twenty  years  should  elapse  until  Japan  had 
developed  and  consolidated  her  material  and 
naval  resources.  Then  with  amazing  celerity, 
quiet,  secrecy,  order,  and  precision,  she  sent 
armies  across  the  sea,  wiped  out  the  naval 
power  of  China,  and  annihilated  in  one  battle 
almost  every  one  of  the  disciplined  troops  of 
China.  After  that  the  Mikado's  soldiers  fought 
chiefly  mobs  of  soldiery  gathered  under  the 
yellow   dragon  flag,  and  conquered  a  space  of 

274 


The  Great  Embassy  to  Christendom 

territory  in  Manchuria,  larger  than  her  own  em- 
pire. 

After  the  interference  of  Russia,  Germany,  and 
France  in  armed  intervention  which  checked  her 
development  on  the  continent,  she  received 
Formosa  and  the  Pescadore  Islands  and  enough 
money  in  indemnity  to  buy  a  fleet  of  new  battle- 
ships, not  one  of  which  she  had  ever  before 
possessed,  for  all  her  men  of  war  were  cruisers 
and  gunboats  only.  Yet  the  victories  of  war 
and  diplomacy  saddled  her  with  terrible  burdens. 
Japan  has  been  obliged  to  enter  upon  a  program 
of  military  expansion  that  will  tax  her  people  to 
the  utmost  of  tolerable  limits,  for  a  decade  and 
perhaps  for  time  indefinite,  crippling  her  educa- 
tional and  other  lines  of  development. 

Yet  in  all  the  operations  by  sea  and  land  in 
1894-95,  there  was,  we  must  remember,  no  war 
between  China  and  Japan,  but  between  Japan 
and  three  or  four  maritime  provinces  of  China. 
China  has  never  had  a  national  army  or  navy. 
In  spite  of  all  her  resources  the  Chinese  have  not 
unity  and  perhaps  not  even  the  potency  of  unity 
such  as  Japan  possesses. 

/  Yet  even  in  the  matter  of  national  defence,  of 
military  development,  resources,  and  education, 
no  real  history  of  Japan  can  leave  out  the  name 
of  Guido  F.  Verbeck.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to 
say  that  his  advice  was  a  potent  factor,  like 
leaven  unseen,  indeed,  but  none  the  less  efficient, 

•  in  making  that  Japan  militant  which,  in  1894,  sur- 
prised the  world.     As  far  back  as  1870,  at  a  crit- 

275 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

ical  moment  in  the  nation's  history,  as  Mr.  Verbeck 
himself  told  me,  he  was  asked  by  Iwakura  and  his 

'  fellow-statesmen  whether  Japan  should  seriously 
begin  the  formation  of  a  national  army  and  navy 
and  the  defence  of  her  coasts,  and  also  to  give 
his  reasons  why  this  should  be  done.  The  in- 
terview was  in  the  nature  of  a  conclave  which 
lasted  several  hours. 

Mr.  Verbeck  believing  that  Japan,  then  weak 
and  divided,  was  in  the  presence  of  the  contin- 
ually growing  power  of  the  great  aggressive 
European  nations,  Russia,  France,  and  Great 
Britain,  advised  military  and  naval  development 
and  defence  of  the  coast.  For  this  he  gave  two 
reasons,  first  and  greatest  of  all,  to  secure  na- 
tional unity  and  the  development  of  the  resources 
of  the  empire,  and  second  to  preserve  the  very 
existence  and  integrity  of  the  Japanese  nation. 
He  gave  his  advice  as  a  man  of  affairs  and  of  this 
world,  and  in  the  sincere  belief  that  he  was  do- 
ing the  right  thing  in  the  sight  of  God,  as  well  as 
for  that  which  was  ever  his  desire  and  end  in 

\  view,  the  good  of  the  Japanese  people. 


276 


XIV 

DECORATED  BY  THE  EMPEROR 
1874-1880 

It  was  from  the  beginning  and  has  been 
throughout,  the  aim  and  purpose  of  the  biogra- 
pher to  set  forth  with  some  detail,  only  that  part 
of  Mr.  Verbeck's  life  which  is  but  slightly  known 
to  the  public,  or  even  to  his  missionary  brethren. 
From  the  time  he  entered  upon  direct  missionary 
work,  about  1875,  until  his  change  of  worlds  in 
1898,  his  life  and  influence  have  been  patent  to 
all.  There  seems  less  need  to  show  with  any 
minute  detail  what  he  did  in  these  years,  for  it  is 
known.  We  need,  therefore,  only  outline  his 
labors  in  that  latter  part  of  his  life,  for  which 
previous  years  had  been  a  preparation.  After 
the  removal  of  the  ban  on  Christianity,  and  the 
organization  of  Christian  churches,  he  could 
bring  all  his  superb  powers  to  the  building  up  of 
Christian  Japan,  and  this  he  did.  He  lived  to  see 
hundreds  of  churches  organized  and  many  tens 
of  thousands  of  members  enrolled,  to  rejoice  over 
the  flood  and  to  sorrow  over  the  ebb  of  spritual 
life. 

Although  he  had  accepted  a  five  years'  contract 
with  the  government,  as  attache  to  the  Genro-ln 
or  Senate  from  1873  to  1878,  by  which  he  could 

277 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

support  himself,  he  was  yet  as  busy  as  a  preacher, 
as  if  he  were  also  a  settled  pastor.  For  his  ser- 
mons, one  or  two  every  Sunday,  he  made  elab- 
orate preparations,  soon  in  unction  and  effect  on 
his  hearers  reaching  a  height  and  power  to  which 
they  could  find  no  equal  among  alien  speakers  of 
the  vernacular  of  Japan. 

His  feelings  are  mirrored  in  the  letter  of  August 
26,  1874: 

"  By  last  mail's  papers  I  was  agreeably  sur- 
prised in  finding  that  Rutgers  college  had  done 
me  the  honor  to  confer  upon  me  the  honorary 
degree  of  D.  D.  I  must  confess  that  it  was  an 
unexpected  favor — in  fact  quite  a  surprise — and 
that  I  feel  it  to  be  an  undeserved  one.  I  wish  I 
knew  whom,  next  to  the  faculty  of  Rutgers,  I 
have  to  thank  for  this  kindness.  Whoever  he 
be — and  you  are  apt  to  know  best — I  should  wish 
him  to  know  that,  highly  as  I  may  value  the  gift 
and  gratefully  as  I  accept  it,  I  value  still  higher 
and  acknowledge  more  gratefully  the  kind  inten- 
tions of  him  who  suggested  the  bestowal  of  it. 
God  grant  me  grace  to  bear  the  title  humbly  and 
honorably. 

**  In  my  present  position  matters  are  somewhat 
improving,  I  mean  in  the  way  of  congeniality 
and  usefulness  of  subjects  in  hand.  But  I  have 
not  as  yet  been  able  to  see  my  way  clear  so  as  to 
decide  on  the  proper  course  to  take  in  the  future. 
The  government  very  kindly  offered  me  a  con- 
tract for  five  (5)  years  from  the  ist  of  December, 
last,  which  is  a  longer  term  than  is  generally 

278 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

offered  to  foreigners  in  the  government  service. 
Two  or  three  years  is  the  usual  term,  and  four 
years  the  longest  I  have  heard  of.  In  fact,  at  the 
time  of  making  my  contract  I  was  told  that  this 
long  term  of  five  years  was  offered  me  because 
they  knew  me  well,  and  there  need  be  no  ques- 
tion of  probation.  Still  I  am  not  considered  so 
bound,  but  that  I  can  withdraw  at  any  time  from 
my  engagements  on  due  notice  and  for  good  and 
sufficient  reasons.  The  only  difficulty,  then,  in 
the  case  would  be  to  decide  on  the  goodness  and 
sufficiency  of  the  reasons,  and  there  Providence 
will  help." 

The  work  upon  which  Dr.  Verbeck  now 
entered  was  in  continuity  of  that  which  he  had 
already  been  doing  for  years.  He  was  still  an 
educator  of  the  Japanese  nation.  We  have  seen 
him  at  Nagasaki  training  young  men  to  read  and 
understand  the  New  Testament  and  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States.  Now  in  1874  the 
Genro-In,  or  Senate,  the  preparatory  step  to  the 
National  Constitution  and  Imperial  Diet,  formed 
in  1889,  we  see  him  as  the  direct  adviser  of  the 
highest  officers  of  the  progressive  government, 
not  a  few  of  whom  had  been  his  pupils.  To 
sum  up,  as  I  have  already  written  in  The  Nation : 
"During  the  decade  of  his  Tokio  service  as 
unofficial  attache  of  the  Cabinet,  his  multifarious 
services  were  those  which  only  a  cosmopolitan 
linguist  and  scholar,  absolutely  trusted  by  a 
naturally  suspicious  and  sensitive  people,  could 
perform.    He  translated  into  Japanese  the  Code 

279 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Napoleon,  Bluntschli's  'Staatsrecht,'  Two  Thou- 
sand Legal  Maxims,  with  commentary,  the  con- 
stitutions of  the  states  of  Europe  and  America, 
forest  laws,  compendiums  of  forms,  and  hun- 
dreds of  other  legal  and  political  documents." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  speak  in  detail  of  these 
great  works,  nor  of  Dr.  Verbeck's  part  in  render- 
ing them  into  Japanese.  It  may  be  said  that  the 
translator's  whole  life  had  been  a  preparation  for 
this  work,  long  and  tedious  as  it  was  in  detail. 
*' He  had  four  mother-tongues,"  for  work,  and 
he  could  be  "silent  in  six  languages"  when 
called  to  patience  and  waiting.  His  mighty 
J  power  of  silence  as  well  as  of  speech  enabled 
jhim  to  be  a  true  educator  of  a  nation  and  its 
■leaders  helping  to  prepare  them  for  constitutional, 
safeguarded  freedom. 

A  glimpse  into  the  manner  of  life  of  this 
busy  man  is  given  in  the  letter  of  May  21,  1877: 

"  If  pardonable,  I  ask  you — not  once,  but  seven 
times — to  pardon  my  long  silence.  It  is  true,  I 
might  assign  various  reasons  of  more  or  less 
weightiness,  but  unsupported  by  lengthy  argu- 
ments, they  could  all  and  each  be  readily  shown 
to  be  insufficient.  I  might  for  instance  plead 
long  seasons  of  dejection  of  spirits — probably  it 
would  have  been  relieved  by  writing  to  sympa- 
thizing friends;  or  multiplicity  and  urgency  of 
engagements;  others  are  similarly  situated  and 
yet  find  time  to  write;  or  hereditary  aversion  to 
writing  generally, — it  is  a  vice  that  ought  to  be 
heroically  overcome;  or  dislike  of  minute  ex- 

280 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

planations,  without  which  accounts  from  this 
distance  are  hardly  intelligible,— but  this  is  prov- 
ing too  much,  as  it  makes  concise  writing  from 
distant  parts  a  well-nigh  useless  labor;  or  want  of 
interesting  matter,— but  what  may  seem  com- 
monplace on  the  spot  is  often  deemed  to  be  very 
interesting  abroad;  or  a  large  family  and  con- 
sequent heavy  family  cares,— so  much  the  more 
Teason  for  keeping  up  social  connections  at  home; 
or  any  number  of  other  reasons,  but  all,  if  unsup- 
ported by  details,  equally  capable  of  being 
answered  off-hand.  I  am  obliged,  therefore,  to 
come  back  to  my  first  position,  and  simply  and 
sincerely  to  beg  of  you  to  excuse  my  protracted 
neglect  of  one  part  of  duty.  This  I  now  beg  of 
you  again,  and  further  take  the  liberty  to  say  a 
few  words,  not  in  full  justification,  but  in  ex- 
tenuation of  my  long  silence. 

"Now,  to  revert  to  the  extenuating  matters 
above  referred  to,  in  the  first  place,  my  peculiar 
position  obliges  me  continually  to  disregard  the 
teacher's  precept  'to  attempt  to  teach  nothing 
but  what  you  have  mastered  fully  yourself.' 
Almost  daily,  questions  occur  that  oblige  me  to 
undertake  much  research  and  extensive  reading. 
The  wisdom  or  folly  of  continuing  so  long  in  a 
position  of  this  kind  is  another  question;  but 
what  is  certain  is  that  it  involves  a  perhaps  quite 
disproportionate  expenditure  of  time.  One  good 
thing  in  connection  with  the  whole  matter  is 
that,  so  far  from  requiring  the  least  relinquish- 
ment of  principles,  all  these  inquiries  rather  favor, 

281 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

nay  necessitate  the  unvarying  maintenance  of  the 
highest  principles. 

"Besides  the  above,  my  official  work,  I  en- 
deavor to  carry  on  at  least  some  purely  missionary 
work,  which  consists  in  preaching  once  every 
Lord's  Day  morning,  with  sometimes  an  after- 
noon sermon  in  addition.  But  of  this  part  of  my 
work  I  prefer  that  others,  especially  the  Rev. 
David  Thompson,  with  whom  I  cooperate, 
should  speak.  Another  consideration  to  be  re- 
ferred to  is  that  all  this  work  has  to  be  performed 
in  a  language  that  none  of  us  can  find  sufficient 
time  to  devote  to ;  but  this  is  perhaps  again  proving 
too  much,  because  common  to  all  foreign  mis- 
sionary work  and  workers." 

That  the  seriousness  and  multifariousness  of 
Dr.  Verbeck's  labors,  during  his  years  of  service 
to  the  Dai  Jo  Kan  or  Supreme  Government  Coun- 
cil and  the  Genro-In,  or  Senate,  may  be  under- 
stood, we  need  only  remember  that  Dr.  Verbeck 
for  years  stood  to  the  new  government  in  place 
of  the  great  corps  of  expert  advisers  which  were 
afterward  assembled.  Hence,  he  had  to  supple- 
ment the  routine  toil  of  the  day  by  long  and 
hard  reading  at  night.  As  the  business  of  the 
government  became  more  fully  reduced  to  sys- 
tem, distributed  in  departments  and  bureaus,  and 
as  able  men  of  special  abilities  from  abroad  and 
at  home  were  sought  and  found,  there  was  less 
need  of  Dr.  Verbeck  remaining  in  government 
service.  In  his  work  of  translation,  he  was  nobly 
assisted  by  such  native  scholars  as  Mitsukuri, 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

Kato,  Hosokawa  and  others.  He  looked  joyfully 
forward  to  the  hour  of  release. 

**As  to  the  Lord's  cause  throughout  the 
country,  it  is  a  joyful  fact  that  the  times  of  mere 
hope  and  expectancy,  that  used  to  keep  up  the 
courage  of  us  older  hands,  have  under  a  gracious 
Providence  been  changed  into  times  of  real  fru- 
ition and  ingathering. 

"  One  piece  of  real  news  I  have  to  communicate 
is  that  my  long  connection  with  the  government 
is  at  last  to  come  to  an  end,  namely,  on  the  ist  of 
July  next."  [1877.] 

As  an  appropriate  conclusion  to  his  long  serv- 
ices to  the  government,  the  em^peror  of  Japan 
bestowed  upon  him  the  decoration  of  the  third 
class  of  the  Order  of  the  Rising  Sun.  This  was, 
as  he  wrote,  the  first  piece  of  jewelry  that  Mr. 
Verbeck  ever  owned.  The  central  circle  con- 
tains a  fine  large  ruby  and  is  surrounded  by 
pointed  rays  in  gold  filled  in  with  white  enamel, 
the  colors  being  those  of  Japan  and  the  symbol 
that  of  the  sun  shining  in  its  strength.  Above 
the  symbol  is  the  three-leaved  blossom  of  the 
kiri  tree,  the  Paulownia  Imperialis,  the  three 
flowers  surmounting  the  leaves,  all  in  gold,  the 
leaves  being  in  green  and  the  flowers  in  purple 
enamel.  The  Paulownia  flower  is  the  emperor's 
family  crest,  the  tree  never  growing  in  groves, 
but  in  each  case  by  itself  alone.  At  the  very  top 
of  the  emblem,  there  is  a  golden  clasp  through 
which  passes  a  heavy  white  silk  ribbon  with 
deep  red  borders,  and  by  this  ribbon  the  decora- 

283 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

tion  is  worn  around  the  neck  so  as  to  hang  upon 
the  shirt  bosom.  The  ceremony  on  presentation 
of  the  decoration  was  the  same  as  that  observed 
in  the  emperor's  presence,  but  as  he  was  at  the 
time  of  its  bestowal  in  Kioto,  his  deputy  the 
Honorable  Ogiu  acted  at  court  as  the  imperial 
deputy,  conducting  the  prescribed  ceremonies. 
The  decoration  was  put  up  in  a  fine  lacquered 
casket  accompanied  by  a  patent  to  which  were 
affixed  the  emperor's  signature  and  the  great  seal 
of  the  empire. 

/  In  writing  of  it  to  the  Mission  secretary,  Mr. 
Verbeck  said:  "Indirectly  it  is  a  tribute  to  the 
cause  of  missions."  To  his  sister  he  wrote:  **0f 
course  the  chief  pleasure  in  receiving  such  a  dis- 
tinguished honor  is  not,  for  a  servant  of  the 
Master,  in  the  beautiful  jewel  or  in  the  worldly 
honor  it  confers,  but  in  the  kind  intentions  of 
the  kind  donors.    My  *D.  D.'  I  hold  in  a  similar 

y  estimation." 

In  the  scientific  name  of  the  imperial  flower  of 
Japan  are  blended  also  associations  with  Russia 
and  with  Holland,  and  to  the  student  of  history 
the  words  call  up  the  precedent  of  the  intro- 
duction of  western  civilization  into  Russia  by 
Dutchmen,  scholars,  engineers,  and  teachers  in 
the  seventeenth,  as  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
foreigners  introduced  the  more  improved  forms 
into  Japan.  *'  Present  Japan — this  beautiful  Japan 
came  from  beyond  the  sea."  The  Princess  Paul- 
ownia,  after  whom  in  science  and  in  compliment, 
this  lordly  tree  of  Japan  is  named,  was  the  bride 

284 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

of  King  William  II.  of  Holland.  He  it  was  who 
sent  men-of-war  to  Japan  in  the  early  forties, 
bearing  the  olive  branch  and  urging  the  Japa- 
nese to  open  their  country  to  the  world.  After 
the  Russian  princess  Paulownia,  mother  of  King 
William  III.  and  grandmother  of  Queen  Wilhel- 
mina,  one  of  the  finest  polders  (or  lands  reclaimed 
from  the  waters)  in  the  Netherlands  takes  its 
name.  Since  Verbeck  of  Japan  was  born  under 
her  rule,  the  associations  were  doubtless  pleas- 
ant. Verbeck,  estimating  the  gift  at  its  real  value, 
rarely  showed  it  to  any  of  his  friends,  and  then 
usually  with  apologies,  though  appropriately  do- 
ing honor  to  the  giver  by  wearing  it  on  the  state 
occasions,  to  which  he  refers  in  his  letters.  To 
the  last  years  of  his  life  he  was,  on  account  of 
his  decoration,  a  guest  at  the  imperial  audiences. 
To  show  how  differently  a  genuine  Christian,  as 
compared  with  a  mere  seeker  of  earthly  honors, 
looked  upon  a  bauble  made  of  gold  and  jewels, 
Verbeck  sternly  reproved  any  and  all  well-mean- 
ing persons,  native  or  foreign,  who  tried  to 
*'make  capital"  even  for  Christianity  out  of  a 
decorated  missionary.  "My  kingdom  is  not  of 
this  world,"  said  the  Master,  and  Verbeck,  His 
loyal  servant,  knew  it  too  well  to  allow  any 
trifling  even  by  friends.  We  shall  read  how  his 
actions  spoke  louder  than  words,  even  though 
his  words  were  as  thunder.  The  lightning  of 
his  firm  resolve  struck  withering  all  plea  of  fur- 
thering the  gospel  by  material  show.  Rev.  E. 
Rothesay  Miller  writes: 

285 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

"  I  recall  an  incident  that  occurred  in  Shinano, 
as  related  to  me  by  himself.  He  was  expected 
to  lecture  in  one  of  the  large  towns  in  that  pre- 
fecture, and  the  lecture  had  been  advertised  as 
widely  as  possible.  The  doctor,  according  to  his 
wont,  was  taking  a  morning  walk,  about  the 
only  kind  of  exercise  he  indulged  in,  and  of 
which  he  was  very  fond.  During  these  walks 
he  would  arrange  his  thoughts  for  the  discourse 
he  was  about  to  deliver.  While  wandering 
•  about,  he  came  to  the  centre  of  the  town  and 
saw  there  a  large  poster  with  the  notice  of  the 
lecture.  Almost  unconsciously  he  stopped  to 
read  it,  when,  to  his  surprise  and  chagrin,  he 
saw,  in  very  large  characters,  that  'Berubeki 
Hakase,'  (Doctor  Verbeck)  who  had  been  deco- 
rated by  the  emperor  with  the  third  class  of  the 
order  of  the  Rising  Sun,  was  to  deliver  such  a 
lecture  at  such  a  time,  etc.  He  went  back  imme- 
diately to  the  hotel  and,  looking  up  the  young 
Japanese  who  was  making  all  the  arrangements 
for  the  meeting,  told  him  that,  if  those  posters 
were  not  all  taken  down  immediately,  he  would 
absolutely  refuse  to  speak:  that  the  fact  of  his 
being  decorated  by  the  emperor  had  nothing  to 
do  with  his  speaking  as  a  Christian  missionary; 
and  that,  although  he  considered  the  decoration 
a  greaf  honor  and  appreciated  it  greatly,  still  it 
was  not  given  because  he  was  a  missionary,  and 
he  did  not  speak  of  Christianity  because  he  had 
been  decorated  by  the  emperor;  that  he  was  there 
that  day  to  preach  because  he  was  a  minister  of 

286 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

Jesus  Christ,  and  those  who  came  to  hear  him 
must  come  with  that  understanding.  At  first 
there  was  some  demur,  on  account  of  the  posters 
having  been  already  put  up,  but  as  the  doctor  re-' 
mained  firm,  men  were  sent  out  and  all  the  ob- 
noxious bills  were  taken  down  and  others  posted 
in  their  stead. 

"  The  only  reason  why  I  came  to  be  informed  of 
this  incident  was  because  Dr.  Verbeck  was  ap- 
prehensive lest  it  be  repeated  when  he  was  to 
lecture  in  Morioka,  and  so  asked  that  the  leader 
of  the  meeting  be  told  not  to  mention  the  fact  of 
his  having  been  decorated.  It  was  well  he  had 
mentioned  the  incident,  because  the  leader  of  one 
of  the  meetings  had  fully  intended  to  make  very 
prominent  the  fact  of  the  decoration,  and  was 
much  disappointed  when  he  found  that  he  could 
not  allude  to  the  matter  in  any  way  whatever." 

On  one  occasion  he  found  his  possession  of 
the  jewel  of  great  practical  value.  Being  at  the 
wrong  end  of  Tokio,  in  Tsukiji,  when  time  was 
short  and  he  had  an  important  engagement  in 
the  city  at  the  other  end,  while  also,  owing  to  a 
conflagration,  the  streets  were  impassable  because 
of  the  people,  he  put  the  silken  button  represent- 
ing his  decoration  to  a  novel  use.  He  had  but  to 
show  the  lapel  of  his  coat  to  a  policeman,  when 
presto — so  excellent  are  the  guardians  of  the 
peace — a  way  was  made  for  him  and  he  filled  his 
engagement. 

Hoping  to  get  free  from  engagements,  in  order 
to  have  six  months'  rest  in  America,  and  then  to 

287 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

enter  again  upon  the  full  work  as  missionary,  Dr. 
Verbeck  was  nevertheless  kept  on  from  month  to 
month  as  attache  to  the  Senate.  Then  several 
offers  having  been  made  him  for  service  to  the 
Japanese,  he  finally  accepted  for  one  year,  a  po- 
sition, (not  knowing  whether  or  not  the  Mission 
Board  at  that  time  would  require  his  full  services 
or  could  support  him)  in  the  Nobles'  School,  at 
which  we  must  look. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  some  years  after 
the  restoration  of  1868  the  classes  of  society, 
formerly  four  in  number,  with  many  subdivisions 
and  varieties,  were  reduced  to  three, — nobles, 
gentry,  and  commons.  In  the  new  nomencla- 
ture, the  beautiful  and  august  word  Samurai  was 
dropped,  and  the  awkward  Chinese  term  shizoku 
substituted;  while  for  the  terms  kuge,  or  court 
noble,  and  buke  or  landed  nobility,  the  general 
term  kuazoku,  meaning  flowery  nobility,  was  in 
1886  substituted.  At  this  writing  in  June,  1900, 
with  the  augmentation  consequent  upon  the 
marriage  of  the  crown  prince  of  Japan,  there  are 
no  fewer  than  776  peers,  or  243  more  than  there 
were  originally,  these  with  their  families  number- 
ing 4,523  persons.  Japanese  patriots  begin 
already  to  think  that  a  bad  imitation  of  European 
customs  has  been  made  and  that  it  would  be  wise 
to  limit  the  transmission  of  certain  titles  to  two 
or  at  most  three  generations.  Fortunately  for 
Japan,  over  against  this  unseemly  lust  for  honors 
and  titles,  so  out  of  harmony  with  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  is  the  noble  desire  of  many  natives  who, 

288 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

in  character  and  abilities,  are  higher  than  decora- 
tion or  honors  can  make  them  and  who  prefer  to 
remain  commoners.  There  are  even  honorable 
men  of  Samurai  blood  who  have  voluntarily 
stepped  down,  or  rather  risen  higher  into  simple 
manhood  by  becoming  heimin  or  commoners. 

To  educate  this  class  into  greater  efficiency  for 
national  service,  Kuazoku  Gakko  or  Nobles' 
School  was  formed.  To  give  it  the  right  mo- 
mentum and  direction,  who  better  than  Guido 
Verbeck  ?    So  thought  the  projectors. 

This  year  of  unexpected  labors,  for  during  this 
time  he  gave  his  services  freely  to  the  young 
churches  also,  brought  Mr.  Verbeck  into  a  con- 
dition of  weakness  and  nervousness  which  re- 
quired immediate  rest,  so  he  prepared  to  leave 
Tokio  with  his  family  July  31,  1878.  For  about 
a  month  before  his  departure,  he  was  over- 
whelmed with  tokens  of  affection  from  nobility, 
gentry,  and  commons,  from  official  and  private 
parties,  from  high  and  the  low,  from  the  Christian 
and,  as  this  son  of  hope  wrote,  ''as  yet  un- 
christian." He  left  Japan  uncertain  as  to  whether 
he  should  be  able  to  see  his  dear  people  again. 
His  first  purpose  was  to  restore  his  own  health 
and  to  settle  his  children  in  school  in  California. 
Hear  what  Mr.  E.  H.  House,  editor  of  The  Tokio 
Times,  a  most  excellent  journal  conducted  by  a 
trained  journalist,  wrote  of  Verbeck: 

"The  steamer  which  sails  for  San  Francisco 
next  Wednesday,  will  carry  from  Japan  a  gentle- 
man whose  name  has  been  identified  with  the 

289 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

educational  development  of  this  country  from  the 
earliest  days  of  foreign  intercourse  to  the  present 
moment,  who  has  enjoyed  during  the  successive 
years  of  his  career  an  unexampled  degree  of 
confidence  throughout  his  large  circle  of  social 
and  official  connections,  and  who  stands  almost 
alone  in  the  possession  of  an  esteem  which  has 
never  been  dimmed  by  distrust  and  which  the 
Japanese  of  all  ranks  and  conditions  have  united 
in  according  to  him  with  a  singular  abandon- 
ment of  the  reserve  that  commonly  characterizes 
their  closest  association  with  strangers.  His  long 
residence  has  been  an  unceasing  benefit  to  alien 
dwellers  of  all  nations,  in  ways  of  which  he  can 
never  have  been  conscious;  for  the  unexerted  in- 
fluence of  such  men  goes  far  to  counteract,  in 
time  of  need,  the  impulses  of  anger  inspired  by 
the  more  frequent  examples  of  selfishness  and 
prejudice  which  the  people  of  this  country  have 
had  to  encounter.  To  the  Japanese  themselves, 
in  numbers  extending  indefinitely  beyond  the 
region  of  his  personal  contact,  it  has  also  been  an 
advantage  which  they  recognize  with  a  prompt- 
ness and  a  fullness  alike  just  to  their  friend  and 
honorable  to  themselves.  His  absence  will  be  a 
real  loss, — not  so  serious  as  if  his  departure  had 
been  determined  upon  during  the  unsettled  days 
of  the  government  change,  domestic  disorder, 
and  undefined  external  relationship,  but  still  one 
that  will  be  lamented  with  a  sense  of  obligation 
that  words  can  only  imperfectly  acknowledge 
and  acts  cannot  wholly  requite." 

290 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

Dr.  Verbeck  tells  the  story  of  his  old  and 
his  new  work  in  his  letter  of  July  24,  1877: 

"As  I  believe,  I  intimated  to  you  in  my  last, 
my  long  connection  with  the  government  service 
is  about  to  be  severed.  According  to  present 
appearances,  I  shall  leave  my  attacheship  to  the 
Senate  by  the  middle  of  September. 

'*A  fair  and  honorable  offer  was  made  me 
some  time  ago,  but  I  declined  it.  The  Nobles 
of  Japan  have  formed  themselves  into  an  organ- 
ized society,  and  under  its  auspices  carry  on 
various  enterprises,  among  which  there  is  a  so- 
called  Nobles'  School  (Kazokii  Sakka).  This  is 
a  large  institution,  chiefly  intended  for  the  edu- 
cation of  the  descendants  and  relatives  of  the 
'  kuazoku '  or  nobles.  It  was  in  this  school  that 
a  place  was  rather  urgently  offered  me.  The 
chief  reason  of  my  excusing  myself  is  that, 
though  much  good  might  be  done  in  that  institu- 
tion, I  think  that  in  the  present  progressed  state  of 
the  country  I  could  be  more  useful  than  in  teaching 
the  mere  rudiments  of  an  English  education,  un- 
less it  were  in  a  distinctively  missionary  school. 
There  are  many  others  as  well  or  better  qualified 
for  the  work  in  question.  It  is  true,  it  was  inti- 
mated to  me  that  from  time  to  time  I  would  be 
called  upon  to  lecture  in  Japanese  to  some  of  the 
nobles  themselves ;  but  if  that  be  a  desideratum, 
it  might  be  accomplished  without  the  drudgery 
of  teaching  spelling  and  grammar.  At  such  a 
time  as  the  present  when  preaching  and  educating 
for  the  ministry  can  be  effectively  carried  on,  I 

291 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

think  that  we  may  leave  mere  secular  teaching  to 
secular  teachers. 

**  As  in  many  respects  an  appropriate  and  grati- 
fying conclusion  to  my  long  connection  with  the 
government,  the  emperor  did  me  the  distin- 
guished honor  of  conferring  on  me  the  decoration 
of  the  third-class  of  his  Order  of  the  Rising  Sun. 
As  1  have  ever  borne  the  title  of  the  missionary 
and  have  always  stood  forth  in  and  for  the  mis- 
sion cause,  and  as  I  have  always  been,  under 
grace,  a  champion  of  those  good  things  that  Paul 
commends  in  Phil.  iv.  8,  this  honor  bestowed  on 
me  may  properly  be  regarded  as  an  indirect  trib- 
ute to  the  cause  of  missions.  Certainly,  if  the 
government  cherished  hostile  feelings  toward 
Protestant  missions,  it  would  not  have  taken  such 
a  step.  As  to  the  honor  itself,  I  hope  that  as  a 
Christian  and  a  minister  I  may  know  how  to  bear 
it.  The  decoration  is  a  pretty  piece  of  jewelry, 
the  first  I  have  ever  owned.  The  central  circle  is 
a  fine  ruby;  this  is  surrounded  by  pointed  rays 
of  gold,  filled  in  with  white  enamel.  The  sym- 
bol of  the  sun  is  surmounted  by  the  emperor's 
family  crest;  the  three-leaved  'paulownia  im- 
perialis,'  with  a  cluster  of  blossoms  on  the  tip  of 
each  of  the  leaves,  also  all  of  gold,  the  leaves 
filled  in  with  green  and  the  blossoms  with  purple 
enamel.  At  the  very  top  there  is  attached  a 
golden  clasp,  through  which  passes  a  heavy 
white  silk  ribbon  (one  and  one-half  inches  wide) 
with  deep  red  borders.  By  this  ribbon  the  deco- 
ration is  to  be  suspended  around  the  neck,  so  as  to 

292 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

lie  on  the  shirt  bosom.  The  ceremony  on  the  occa- 
sion was  the  same  as  that  observed  in  the  emperor's 
presence;  but  as  the  emperor  is  at  present  at 
Miako,  the  Hon.  Ogin  had  been  appointed  to  act 
at  court  as  his  deputy.  The  decoration  is  put  up 
in  a  fine  lacquered  casket  and  accompanied  by  a 
patent,  to  which  are  affixed  the  emperor's  signa- 
ture and  the  state  seal." 

His  first  letter  from  San  Francisco  is  dated  i8th 
of  September,  in  which  he  says,  "What  amidst 
all  the  novelty  and  advantages  of  this  great  city 
we  miss  most  in  our  daily  dealings  are  the  docile 
and  kind-hearted  Japanese." 

On  arriving  in  America  the  reaction  came.  He 
was  taken  with  an  illness  which  lasted  some 
weeks.  After  his  recovery,  to  rest  his  mind  by 
change  of  occupation,  he  gave  himself  to  a  new 
method  of  literary  investigations,  by  which  he 
**  hoped  to  ascertain  more  scientifically  and  posi- 
tively than  had  hitherto  been  possible  the  real 
authorship  of  any  composition." 

During  this  stay  on  the  Pacific  Coast  he  im- 
proved every  opportunity  to  hear  good  preach- 
ing. Abundant  proofs  that  he  succeeded  are 
found  in  his  commonplace  books,  crowded  as 
they  are  with  notes,  comments,  analyses,  sermon 
plans,  hints,  suggestions,  seed  thoughts,  excerpts, 
and  scraps  of  all  kinds.  It  would  be  interesting 
to  open  the  wealth  of  scholarly  accumulation,  or 
even  to  show  the  chips  in  the  workshop  of  this 
scholar,  man  of  affairs,  and  consecrated  servant 
of  God  and  man,  but  space  forbids.    Returning 

293 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

to  Japan,  he  wrote  on  the  9th  of  January, 
1878: 

"Under  date  of  the  21st  May  last,  I  wrote  you, 
giving  a  full  statement  of  my  case;  chiefly  of 
the  prospect  of  my  leaving  the  government  serv- 
ice for  good,  of  my  intention  of  taking  about  six 
months  of  rest  and  home  duty;  and  of  my  readi- 
ness, at  the  end  of  this  or  early  next  year  to  re- 
join the  active  ranks  of  the  mission,  if  agreeable 
to  the  Board." 

Meanwhile  he  made  a  new  engagement  as  his 
letters  show: 

"  I  did  not  feel  myself  at  liberty  to  refuse  some 
of  the  offers  most  kindly  made  me  and  I  en- 
tered on  a  contract  for  a  year,  from  the  20th 
November  with  the  Kuazoku  gakko  and  with 
one  of  the  departments  of  the  government.  The 
latter  is,  however,  a  mere  private  arrangement 
between  me  and  the  officers  of  the  department 
in  question  and  not  with  the  government  itself. 
My  contracts,  too,  do  not  bind  me  so  that  in  an 
emergency  I  cannot  make  myself  free.  More- 
over, in  making  the  above  arrangements,  I  have 
reserved  sufficient  time  (with  a  proportionate 
loss  of  salary,  of  course)  to  enable  me  to  con- 
tinue my  usual  missionary  labors  and  my  lec- 
tures on  the  Christian  evidences  and  homiletics 
in  the  Union  Theological  School." 

A  year  of  severe,  constant,  and  multifarious 
labors  again  wrought  adversely  upon  his  health 
and  strength  and  he  took  a  vacation  in  California. 
He  writes  June  18,  1879: 

294 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

"  I  am  interested  to  hear  what  progress  is  made 
in  regard  to  the  proposed  high  school  or  college 
for  Japan.  If  it  can  be  brought  about  without 
diminishing  the  regular  mission  contributions, 
much  may  be  said  in  favor  of  the  plan,  and  I  for 
one  am  ready  to  take  an  active  part  in  it,  if  de- 
sired. Though,  on  the  whole,  it  might  be  better 
in  a  country  like  Japan,  if  all  or  nearly  all  the 
men  connected  with  the  college  were  new  men, 
who  had  never  been  in  Japan  before.  I  should 
prefer  to  work  with  new  men.  All  who  have 
been  there  any  length  of  time  have  their  specific 
gravity  fixed  upon  them  by  the  natives,  and  their 
usefulness  in  an  educational  career  will  depend 
largely  on  the  rate  thus  assigned  them.  As  to 
the  influence  of  skeptics,  I  do  not  dread  it  much, 
and  think  that  the  purity  of  truth  and  morality  is 
in  itself  a  sufficient  defence  against  its  effects. 

'*  The  most  important  thing  in  Japan  to-day  is 
the  gospel  faithfully  preached,  and  if  this  should 
be  at  all  interfered  with  by  the  new  college,  as 
far  as  the  contribution  of  means  is  concerned,  I 
think  it  had  better  be  left  alone.  The  govern- 
ment does  so  much  for  secular  education  and  its 
institutions  are  so  complete  in  their  various  ap- 
pointments, that  if  an  independent  college  is  to 
be  gotten  up,  it  had  needs  be  a  very  good  and 
superior  one. 

**  During  my  prolonged  recess  here,  it  was  nec- 
essary for  me  to  be  occupied  in  some  quiet  way, 
on  the  principle  that  a  change  of  occupation 
amounts  very  nearly  to  rest,  as  well  as  in  the 

295 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

hope  of  perhaps  producing  something  that  might 
go  to  aid  in  supporting  myself  and  family.  For 
some  years  past  I  had  had  in  my  mind  a  new 
means  of  literary  criticism.  The  working  out  of 
this  idea  supplied  just  the  kind  of  unexciting 
work  my  case  needed,  though  it  has  thus  far 
failed  to  yield  the  more  substantial  benefits  hoped 
for.  Since  recovering  from  my  first  illness  which 
I  was  taken  with  soon  after  my  arrival  here,  I 
have  worked  at  it  more  or  less,  and  for  some 
time  past  worked  hard.  But  with  the  best  of 
wills,  though  I  have  many  pages  ready  for  the 
press,  I  find  I  cannot  at  once  finish  the  work  so 
as  to  make  a  complete  whole  of  it  now.  In  the 
prosecution  of  the  work  I  am,  however,  encour- 
aged to  hope  that  I  have  fallen  upon  an  impor- 
tant discovery  and  have  made  some  useful  inven- 
tions in  the  way  of  the  application  of  means  to 
the  end  in  view. 

"My  scheme  consists  chiefly  in  a  new  method 
of  literary  investigation,  by  which  I  shall  be  able 
to  ascertain,  more  scientifically  and  positively 
than  seems  to  have  been  hitherto  possible,  the 
real  authorship  of  any  composition.  Though  my 
tests  are  applicable  to  styles  of  all  ages  and  in  all 
languages,  they  would  be  peculiarly  so  to  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments.  I 
have  analyzed  the  whole  of  Romans  and  tabulated 
every  one  of  its  9,337  words.  For  mere  quali- 
ties of  use  numerically  recorded  quantities,  thus 
arriving  at  positive,  scientific  results.  Fleay,  in 
his  'Shakespeare  Manual'   (1876),   comes  very 

896 


Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

near  the  idea  I  had  in  mind ;  in  some  late  num- 
bers of  the  transactions  of  the  American  Philo- 
logical Association,  I  find  some  faint  attempts 
in  the  same  direction;  but  nowhere  do  I  find 
anything  like  an  elaboration  such  as  I  have 
achieved.  The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  some  pa- 
pers of  Addison,  etc.,  I  have  also  subjected  to  my 
process,  as  I  fancy,  with  satisfactory  results.  I 
should  like  very  much  to  confer  with  a  trust- 
worthy and  able  philologist  on  my  work  before 
proceeding  further  with  it." 

Right  here  we  may  glance  at  Dr.  Verbeck's 
family.  His  firstborn  baby  daughter,  Emma 
Japonica,  and  Guido,  who  lived  to  be  sixteen,  are 
no  more  on  earth,  but  at  this  writing,  June,  1900, 
there  survive,  five  sons  and  two  daughters. 
William,  Channing,  Gustavus,  Arthur,  Bernard, 
Emma  and  Eleanor.  The  grandson,  son  of  Wil- 
liam, bears  the  honored  name  Guido  Fridolin  Ver- 
beck.  Emma  is  married  to  Professor  Terry  and 
dwells  in  Japan.  Two  sons  in  the  army  of  the 
United  States  follow  the  flag  in  the  far  east,  and 
one,  Gustavus,  the  illustrator  is  well  known  to 
all  who  love  jolly  pictures. 

The  vacation  in  California  restored  him  to  com- 
plete health  and  we  find  him  back  in  Tokio, 
writing  September  19,  1879,  telling  of  the  warm 
welcome  he  had  received  and  later  giving  a  state- 
ment of  his  routine  work,  especially  his  preach- 
ing at  the  Koji  Machi  Church. 

*'As  regards  work,  I  find  there  is  plenty  of  it. 
For  the  present  I  am  assigned  homiletics  and 

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evidences  in  the  theological  school.  This  will 
leave  me  time  enough  to  do  a  good  deal  of 
preaching  besides.  If  after  this  there  are  still 
found  to  be  unoccupied  spaces  there  are  several 
translations  to  be  done  which  are  urgently  wanted. 
In  the  course  of  my  regular  work,  too,  I  hope  to 
meet  with  materials  for  longer  letters  and  more 
frequent  letters  than  has  been  my  wont  of  send- 
ing you  heretofore." 
On  the  1 2th  of  May,  1880,  he  wrote: 
"It  may  be  presumptuous  to  say  I  am  very 
busy,  for  who  is  not  ?  In  laying  out  my  plan  of 
work  for  the  past  winter  (teaching  in  the 
theological  school  and  preaching)  I  did  not  think 
of  making  allowance  for  a  variety  of  extras;  yet 
they  have  turned  up  so  plentifully  that  they  some- 
times sorely  try  the  camel's  back.  And  very 
often  I  feel  as  if  the  extras  are  not  a  whit  less  im- 
portant than  the  stock  work.  For  instance,  copy- 
ing from  my  diary:  '  ist  day,  lecture  at  the  Nobles' 
School,  2  to  4  o'clock  p.  m.  2d  day,  preaching 
at  Koji-machi  church  (communion)  9:30  a.  m.  ; 
Do.  at  Shitaya  church,  2  p.  m.  3d  day,  moved 
from  Miss  Gamble's  school  to  my  present  house; 
4th  day,  address  before  the  alumni  and  officers  of 
the  old  Kaiseijo  of  1869  and  '70  (my  wife  will 
send  you  a  newspaper  slip  about  this);  6th  day, 
sermon  at  the  dedication  of  the  new  Koji-machi 
chapel,  2  p.  M.  8th  day,  an  address  at  the  in- 
auguration of  the  Japanese  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  in  the  Kyo  Bashi  church,  2  p.  m.' 
"The  dedication  of  Koji-machi  chapel  was  an 

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Decorated  by  the  Emperor 

interesting  occasion.     It  took  place  on  the   6th 
instance,  Rev.  Mr.  Ibuka,  the  pastor,  presiding. 
The  services  were  opened  with  a  hymn,  after 
which  Rev.  Mr.  Okuno  read  the  Scriptures  and 
offered  up  the  dedicatory  prayer.     My  sermon 
which  followed  next,  was  on  Ps.  cxxvii.  i,  'Ex- 
cept the  Lord  build  the  house,  etc. '    After  another 
hymn  Rev.  Mr.  Waddell  of  the  Scotch  Presby- 
terian Mission,  made  some  excellent  remarks  on 
the  name  of  the  church,    'Koji-machi  church' 
meaning    'Leaven    Street    church.'      Rev.    Mr. 
Ogawa  followed  with  some  striking  exhortations 
to  the  church,  and  the  services  were  concluded 
with  prayer  by  Rev.  Mr.  Kozaki,  minister  of  the 
Congregational  church,   the  doxology  and  the 
benediction  by  Rev.  Mr.  Soper  of  the  Methodist 
Mission." 

To  this  Koji-machi  church,  Dr.  Verbeck  gave 
much  time,  thought,  prayer,  love,  and  labor. 

Of  Dr.  Verbeck's  nature  and  habits  of  gener- 
osity—and it  made  little  or  no  difference  what  his 
salary  was— we  learn  from  what  Dr.  David 
Thompson  wrote  in  1898,  when  "he  who  never 
rested  rests." 

"Afterwards  he  (Dr.  Verbeck)  came  to  Tokio 
to  help  lay  the  foundation  of  the  present  Im- 
perial University.  While  thus  engaged,  the  first 
church  of  Tokio— the  Shinsakai,  was  organized 
with  eight  original  members.  This  number 
rapidly  grew,  and  in  a  short  time  for  various 
reasons  it  became  imperatively  necessary  to  erect 
a  house  of  worship.  Dr.  Verbeck  was  one  of  the 
399 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

first  to  see  this  necessity,  and  the  first  to  suggest 
the  possibility  of  securing  one.  He  called  at  our 
house  one  evening  and  spoke  to  me,  then  acting 
pastor  of  the  church,  of  a  plan  that  he  had  thought 
of  for  raising  funds.  A  few  days  after  this  he 
had  set  his  plan  to  work.  He  brought  me  a  sub- 
scription paper  headed:  *G.  F.  Verbeck,  I50.' 
Then  followed,  *A  friend,  $50.'  A  third  fifty 
was  put  down  under  another  device,  so  that 
every  one  who  saw  the  paper  thought  that  Dr. 
Verbeck  had  given  fifty  instead  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  Such  was  his  modesty.  Thus 
headed,  and  at  his  suggestion,  I  took  this  paper 
to  a  considerable  number  of  foreigners,  principally 
professors  in  the  university.  A  number  gave 
liberally.  This  help,  with  the  contributions  of 
the  native  church,  enabled  us  to  put  up  a  build- 
ing at  a  cost  of  nearly  one  thousand  dollars,  free 
of  debt.  Both  before  and  after  this  building  was 
erected  Dr.  Verbeck  taught  the  whole  church  as 
one  large  Bible  class  for  a  long  time,  from  Sab- 
bath to  Sabbath." 


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PREACHER  AND  TRANSLATOR 

That  decade  of  years,  the  ninth  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  with  Dr.  Verbeck,  then  in  the 
fullness  of  his  powers,  the  era  of  Bible  transla- 
tion. Arrangements  were  made  by  which  three 
Bible  societies,  American,  British,  and  Scottish, 
and  the  missionaries  of  the  various  evangelical 
societies  in  Japan  cooperated  in  the  production  of 
a  Japanese  version  of  the  Holy  Scripture.  Re- 
ducing his  other  engagements  to  a  minimum,  he 
spent  for  many  months  and  years  five  out  of 
every  six  days  exclusively  in  the  work  of  render- 
ing the  holy  Scriptures  into  the  tongue  of  the 
Japanese  people.  With  this  work  so  delightful 
to  his  soul,  he  made  alternation  and  variety  by 
going  on  preaching  tours  into  near  and  distant 
parts  of  the  empire.  For  either  work,  both  oc- 
cupations made  mutual  enrichment.  Coming 
fresh  from  the  mastery  of  the  thoughts  of  men 
moved  by  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  work  of  ex- 
pressing these  thoughts  into  Japanese,  the  man 
of  God  was  in  a  sense  complete,  furnished  unto 
every  good  word  and  work.  In  June,  1900,  ask- 
ing one  native  preacher  of  many  years'  experience 
in  the  pulpit  the  secret  of  Mr.  Verbeck's  power 
over  the  hearts  of  the  Japanese,  he  told  me  that 
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Verbeck  of  Japan 

he  thought  it  was  marvellous  skill  in  using  pas- 
sages from  native  authors  to  defend,  illuminate, 
and  enforce  Scripture  truth,  and  show  that  God 
"in  these  last  days  hath  spoken  unto  us." 

During  the  month  of  May,  1882,  with  the 
young  preachers  Komoro,  Uyeda,  and  Naomi 
Tamura,  author  of  "The  Japanese  Bride,"  Dr. 
Verbeck  made  a  preaching  tour  in  Kiushiu  of 
twenty-four  days,  preaching  or  lecturing  twenty- 
one  times  to  large  gatherings  in  eight  places. 

In  writing,  December  22,  1880,  he  gives  in  de- 
tail a  most  interesting  incident  of  a  soldier,  who 
secured  for  himself  and  his  comrades  and  friends 
liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  from  unfair 
assessment  in  the  interest  of  paganism. 

On  September  7,  1881,  the  household  was  com- 
pleted by  the  birth  of  a  son  and  Dr.  Verbeck  had 
now  three  sons  and  a  daughter  on  either  side  of 
the  Pacific.  Like  so  many  missionaries,  also,  he 
owned  a  grave  in  other  than  the  home  land.  In 
the  same  soil  in  which  his  own  body  was  to  lie, 
but  at  Nagasaki,  lay  precious  dust  to  which 
memory  often  turned. 

He  wrote  September  9,  1881 : 

"By  this  time  I  have  fairly  started  on  Old 
Testament  translation.  My  work  hitherto  was 
very  various;  Sunday  preaching  (on  an  average 
twice  a  week) ;  teaching  at  the  Union  Theological 
School  (evidences  and  homiletics);  a  weekly 
Bible  class  at  home;  three  lectures  a  month  at  the 
Nobles'  School;  translations  for  our  Presbytery; 
besides    a    goodly    number    of    attendances    at 

302 


Preacher  and  Translator 

occasional  or  periodical  meetings,  and  occasional 
missionary  tours  into  the  country.  Under  these 
circumstances  it  could  not  be  expected  that  I 
should  make  much  progress  in  Bible  translation." 

He  also  kept  up  his  connection  with  the 
Nobles'  School,  giving  chiefly  moral  lectures. 
Already  this  institution,  under  Mr.  Verbeck's 
magic  name,  had  become  the  gateway  through 
which  not  a  few  men  had  entered  high  govern- 
ment positions. 

**What  induced  the  political  students  to  ask 
for  an  increase  of  my  instruction,  I  am  quite  sure 
was  chiefly  this.  Quite  recently  the  emperor 
issued  a  proclamation  setting  forth  that  in  the 
twenty-third  year  of  Meiji  (1890),  he  would  grant 
the  empire  a  constitution,  a  parliament.  How- 
ever well  or  ill-founded  it  may  be,  there  is  a 
general  expectation  among  the  nobles  (daimios, 
large  and  small),  that  their  body,  or  a  large 
portion  of  it,  will  then  (in  1890),  be  formed  into 
something  like  an  Upper  House.  I  think  it  was 
a  good  deal  with  a  view  to  this  that  an  increase 
of  the  political  lectures  was  desired.  If  I  had 
been  in  these  peoples'  service  and  supported  by 
them,  nothing  would  have  been  more  reasonable; 
but  to  ask  that  I  should  give  one-fifth  of  my  time 
for  their  secular  interests,  while  being  supported 
by  two  large  religious  societies,  who  would 
expect  adequate  returns  at  my  hands,  was  cer- 
tainly beside  all  reason  and  right. 

"Two  of  my  earliest  political  students,  Okuma 
and  Soyeshima,  of  Nagasaki  times,  rose  very 

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Verbeck  of  Japan 

quickly  to  the  highest  offices  in  the  empire, 
^  ministers  and  councillors  of  state,  and  a  great 
number  of  my  greater  pupils  are  now  in  various 
ranks  in  all  the  home  and  foreign  departments  of 
the  government.  Hence  there  v^as  sprung  up  a 
vague  notion  among  a  certain  class  of  people  that 
the  being  under  my  tuition  for  a  length  of  time  is 
pretty  sure  to  lead  to  official  position  or  pro- 
motion. I  have  often  been  told  so,  and  it  may 
seem  and  sound  very  fine;  in  its  time  and  place, 
too,  it  has  had  and  still  has  the  effect,  more  or 
less,  of  liberalizing  the  minds  of  some  officials,  of 
recommending  Christianity  to  them  in  a  general 
way  and  disposing  them  favorably  toward  it. 
But  all  this  has  under  the  Divine  blessing  been 
effected  already  by  the  sacrifice  of  precious  years 
and  long  continued  patient  labor  and  any  other 
good  effects  in  the  same  line,  now  that  the 
country  has  been  so  far  opened  and  advanced, 
are,  as  far  as  1  am  aware,  very  small  indeed. 
Our  work  has  to  change  with  the  times." 

In  declining  to  continue  further  connection 
with  the  Nobles'  School,  beyond  that  of  giving 
lectures  on  ethics.  Dr.  Verbeck  wrote  to  the 
Japanese  director  as  follows: 

"When  I  was  in  the  service  of  the  Japanese 
government  and  Japanese  friends,  and  was  en- 
tirely supported  by  them,  I  always  considered  it 
my  duty  to  give  all  my  time  and  strength  to 
them.  Now  I  am  entirely  supported  by  two 
American  societies,  and  hence  it  is  my  duty  to 
give  all  my  time  and  strength  to  their  work.    It 

304 


Preacher  and  Translator 

is  a  happy  circumstance  that  the  work  I  have  to 
do  for  these  societies  is  at  the  same  time  alto- 
gether for  the  benefit  of  your  countrymen.  I 
love  your  people  and  like  to  work  for  them. 
But  you  will  perceive  that  the  above  agreement 
in  regard  to  my  work  will  make  it  impossible 
for  me  to  continue  my  lectures  at  the  Kuazoku 
gakko." 

He  wrote  home: 

"  To  this  letter  I  received  the  Director's  reply 
of  8th  November,  herewith  inclosed,  marked  No. 
I.  I  accepted  the  invitation  to  the  anniversary 
on  the  17th,  stating  the  subject  of  my  address, 
*  Reasons  for  the  Students'  Diligence,'  and  on  the 
1 2th  received  another  answer,  herewith  inclosed, 
marked  No.  2. 

*' Accordingly  on  the  17th,  accompanied  by 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller,  whom  I  had  invited,  and 
my  wife,  I  went  to  the  institution,  which  had  a 
very  festive  appearance.  The  scholars,  male  and 
female,  and  a  large  number  of  guests  were 
assembled  in  a  spacious  hall.  The  exercises 
lasted  from  1:30  o'clock  p.  m.  till  4:30  o'clock, 
after  which  we  were  ushered  into  another  large 
hall,  where  we  partook  of  some  fine  Japanese 
refreshments.  \  had  the  honor,  during  the  anni- 
versary exercises,  to  address  an  immense  audience, 
among  whom  were  two  imperial  princes,  (one  of 
them  the  representative  of  the  emperor).  His 
Excellency  Iwakura,  and  a  great  member  of 
daimios.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Miller  seemed  to  be 
much  pleased  with  the  company  and  the  exer- 

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Verbeck  of  Japan 

cises.  The  musical  pieces  under  the  superintend- 
ency  of  Mr.  Mason  made  a  pleasant  variety  in  the 
exercises.  Mr.  Mason,  the  Millers,  my  wife  and 
self  were  the  only  foreigners  present  among  the 
aristocracy  of  the  capital.  But  the  most  grati- 
fying features  of  the  whole  was  that  after  I  had 
stated  so  frankly  my  missionary  character  and 
the  purely  Christian  nature  of  the  work,  on 
account  of  which  I  declined  lecturing  in  their 
school,  yet  I  was  expressly  invited  to  address 
them  in  public  on  a  highly  festive  occasion.  I 
stood  before  the  people,  nobles,  and  princes  as 
the  pronounced  representative  of  Christianity  in 
Japan.  Few  things  could  show  more  strikingly 
that  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  dislike  or  contempt 
for  our  Protestant  Christianity.  Thanks  be  to 
God! 

*'I  said  above  that  it  would  seem  a  pity  to 
throw  up  the  Nobles'  School  too  rashly,  and  this  is 
chiefly  because  we  cannot  tell  what  this  work 
may  result  in,  as  in  the  course  of  time  all  classes 
of  the  people  become  more  liberally  minded  with 
reference  to  Christianity.  I  value  the  souls  of  the 
poor  as  highly  as  those  of  the  high  and  mighty, 
and  love  them  more;  yet  at  the  same  time,  the 
higher  classes  here  are  so  very  inaccessible  to 
missionaries  generally  that  it  would  seem  a  great 
pity  to  sever  a  tie  of  considerable  confidence  and 
intimacy  except  for  the  weightiest  reasons." 

The  time  had  now  come,  however,  when  Mr. 
Verbeck  was  to  leave  his  comparative  isolation 
among  the  missionaries  and  enter  into  coopera- 

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Preacher  and  Translator 

tion  with  them  in  direct  missionary  work,  while 
continuing  also  several  years  of  daily  toil  at  the 
translation  of  the  Bible,  a  work  at  which  we 
can  but  glance. 

Let  him  open  his  heart  to  us  and  tell  how  he 
felt  in  October,  1882.  Increasing  honors  only 
made  this  servant  of  God  and  man  more  modest 
in  human  society,  more  humble  before  God  and 
Christ's  cross.  There  was  not  a  trace  of  snob- 
bery in  this  admirer  and  countryman  of  William 
the  Silent  and  George  Washington.  As  for  the 
malignant  envy  of  the  missionary-haters  in  the 
seaports,  or  the  slanders  of  globe-trotters  or  lec- 
turers on  "science,"  these  were  to  Dr.  Verbeck, 
"  like  pouring  water  on  the  frog's  face  "  of  Japa- 
nese, or  the  "duck's  back"  of  our  own  homely 
proverb.    He  wrote: 

"But  perhaps  few  know  so  well  as  you  the 
differences  between  the  'then'  and  'now'  in  my 
particular  case.  Now  as  regards  the  compara- 
tively low  estimate  in  which  missionaries  are 
held  by  the  world,  as  well  as  the  quite  un- 
merited opprobrium  often  cast  upon  them  by 
very  worldly  people  (both  foreigners  and  na- 
tives), I  care  very  little  for  it,  nay,  sometimes 
rather  enjoy  it.  Besides,  in  my  case,  there  are 
pleasant  exceptions  to  this  general  rule.  Once 
a  year,  at  least,  I  am  admitted  to  audience,  be- 
fore the  emperor;  several  times  a  year  I  am  in- 
vited to  state  entertainments;  the  authorities  of 
the  University  (grown  out  of  the  former  Kaisei 
Gakko)  never   omit  to  give  me  an  honorable 

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Verbeck  of  Japan 

place  on  occasion  of  the  annual  public  exercises 
(such  an  invitation  for  next  Saturday,  herewith 
inclosed);  the  Nobles'  School  so  likewise;  all, 
without  exception,  of  my  former  acquaintance 
and  connections  treat  me  with  the  highest  con- 
sideration and  respect  when  and  wherever  I  meet 
them,  etc. ;  yet  with  all  this,  as  you  justly  sur- 
mise, I  am  only  a  'missionary,'  and  joyfully  ac- 
cept the  situation.  That  the  work  is  congenial 
to  me  and  that  my  heart  is  in  it,  I  need  not 
mention. 

''But  where  I  feel  the  difference  between  for- 
merly and  now  most  of  all  is  in  this:  from  1859 
to  '79,  for  twenty  years,  I  worked  and  stood 
alone,  decided  all  matters  large  and  small  accord- 
ing to  the  best  of  my  judgment:  there  was  little 
or  no  occasion  for  collisions  with  brethren  hav- 
ing life  ideals  and  aspirations,  though  founded 
virtually  on  the  same  foundations  and  with  the 
same  hopes  in  view,  yet  so  totally  different  that 
mutual  understanding  becomes  at  times  exceed- 
ingly difficult.  The  fault  lies  probably  largely 
with  myself;  those  twenty  years  of  solitary  action 
have  unfortunately  made  a  kind  of  Leatherstock- 
ing  or  Crusoe  of  me,  and  I  sometimes  feel  like  a 
kind  of  rough  pioneer  among  regular  settlers. 
With  the  Japanese,  I  am  happy  to  say,  there  ex- 
ists not  a  shadow  of  this  feeling;  for  if  there  is 
one  sense  strong  in  me,  it  is  that  my  mission  is 
to  the  Japanese,  that  I  am  here  to  benefit  them. 

"For  years  past  I  have  been  urged  again  and 
again  to  join  the  Asiatic  Society  (foreign),  but  I 

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Preacher  and  Translator 

have  never  felt  a  call  to  do  so;  I  have  actually 
been  a  member  of  the  Seismological  Society  (on 
special  invitation,  but  paying  the  ten-dollar  en- 
trance fee),  and  yet,  though  I  am  acknowledged 
to  be  one  of  the  earliest,  if  not  the  earliest,  ex- 
perimenters here,  measuring  the  direction  of  the 
earthquakes  by  means  of  variously  constructed 
pendulums,  I  have  never  had  the  pluck  to  attend 
the  platform  before  a  Japanese  audience  and  feel 
perfectly  at  home  and  in  my  proper  element.  I 
do  not  say  any  or  all  of  this  by  way  of  complaint 
(except  against  myself),  but  only  to  answer  your 
friendly  inquiry.  I  often  wish,  not  that  things 
around  me  were  different  in  these  respects,  but 
that  I  might  have  more  capacity  to  adapt  myself 
to  these  things  and  to  changed  times  and  circum- 
stances ;  for  I  feel  that  I  sometimes  sorely  try  the 
patience  of  younger  men  than  myself.  I  repeat 
that  I  consider  very  lightly  the  aversion  of  the 
upper  grades  of  society  here  toward  missions 
and  missionaries,  or  rather  toward  Christianity, 
for  I  am  convinced  it  will  pass  away  and  is  pass- 
ing away.  I  rather  look  upon  the  present  time 
of  labor  as  a  preparation  and  qualifying  of  one's 
self  for  worthily  and  suitably  proclaiming  to 
these  very  upper  grades  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ.     The  Lord  grant  it  in  His  time." 

Feeling  the  need  of  such  a  work,  a  movement 
among  the  missionaries  was  made  to  secure  a 
history  of  Protestant  missions  in  Japan.  By 
unanimous  consent,  Dr.  Verbeck  was  urged  to 
attempt  this  task.     He  reluctantly  accepted  the 

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responsibility.  He  first  prepared  a  carefully 
printed  circular,  dated  November  20,  1882,  in 
which  he  made  request  and  presented  a  scheme 
of  topics,  historical,  educational,  medical,  and 
literary.  He  spent  some  months  in  digesting 
the  mass  of  matter  received,  finishing  the  work 
which,  besides  a  general  history  and  an  abundant 
collection  of  historical  sketches,  gave  the  statis- 
tics also  of  the  churches  of  the  three  forms  of 
the  faith,  Greek,  Roman,  and  Reformed.  Part 
of  the  historical  matter  was  read  at  the  Osaka 
Conference  of  Missionaries,  a  famous  gathering 
held  in  the  year  1883.  The  work  as  printed  con- 
tains one  hundred  and  eighty-three  pages  includ- 
ing statistics.  The  annual  summary  of  statistics 
is  happily  continued  yearly  by  the  Rev.  Henry 
Loomis,  of  Yokohama,  making  an  extremely  val- 
tiable  annual. 

Hard  work  in  the  study  was  alternated  not 
only  by  preaching  tours  but  also  by  attendance 
upon  councils  or  conferences  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  churches.  Wonderful  to  relate  and  a 
very  rare  thing  in  his  epistolary  experience.  Dr. 
Verbeck  wrote  home  a  long  letter  of  thirty  pages 
about  the  work  in  Takasaki,  a  city  in  the  centre 
of  the  silk  district.  Many  of  the  old  veterans 
and  the  new  Japanese  Christian  leaders  were 
present  at  this  conference  of  organization  and 
recognition.  The  incidents  connected  with  the 
formation  of  this  Takasaki  Independent  Church 
led  to  much  searching  of  heart,  exuberant  cor- 
respondence,  and   ultimately  to   the    proposed 

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Preacher  and  Translator 

"  plan  of  union  "  between  the  Congregationalists 
and  Presbyterians,  which  however  failed  to  ma- 
ture. After  several  intervening  years  of  experi- 
ence, which  did  not  work  hope,  Dr.  Verbeck 
put  on  paper  his  ideas  about  the  formation  of 
churches  and  how  the  true  independence  of  the 
native  Christian  churches  could  be  secured.  We 
need  only  summarize  his  opinions  and  views. 
Perhaps  these  are  quite  accurately  reflected  in  his 
paper  entitled  "An  Extraordinary  Episode." 

Sure  signs  of  the  working  of  the  gospel  leaven 
to  the  transforming  of  the  nation  were  showing 
themselves.  In  1874,  we  had  called  together  on 
Mr.  Fukuzawa,  the  head  founder  of  a  college  be- 
gun on  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Uyeno,  in  1869, 
when  instead  of  going  to  the  battle,  he  sat  down 
with  some  pupils  to  study  Wayland's  Moral 
Science.  From  Tokio,  July  10,  1884,  Mr.  Ver- 
beck wrote : 

"  I  send  you  a  copy  of  the  Japan  Mail  that  has 
a  rather  remarkable  article  in  it.  The  author,  Mr. 
Fukuzawa,  who  has  hitherto  shown  himself  ex- 
tremely hostile  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity 
into  Japan  and  has  now  so  completely  changed 
his  mind,  is  a  kind  of  opportunist  and  has  a  large 
following  among  what  may  well  be  called 
'young  Japan.'  Although,  humanly  speaking, 
there  seems  to  be  little  hope  of  his  ever  embrac- 
ing our  faith  himself,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
his  article  will  exert  a  very  extensive  influence  in 
favor  of  Christianity." 

Of  Fukuzawa,  ''the  grand  old  man  of  Japan," 

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Verbeck  of  Japan 

Mr.  Basil  Hall  Chamberlain  in  1891,  thus  draws  a 
portrait,  "  this  eminent  private  schoolmaster  who 
might  be  minister  of  education,  but  who  has  con- 
sistently refused  all  office,  is  the  intellectual  father 
of  one-half  the  young  men  who  now  fill  the 
middle  and  lower  ports  in  the  government  of 
Japan."  At  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century, 
being  even  more  pro-Christian,  he  is  vigorously 
opposed  by  reactionaries  as  the  preacher  of  "Oc- 
cidental," that  is.  Christian  morals. 

One  of  the  preaching  tours  taken  in  1885,  was 
through  Tosa,  in  Shikoku,  the  Island  of  the  Four 
Provinces,  which  Mr.  Verbeck  declared  was  **by 
far  the  most  lively  and  interesting  trip  I  made 
since  1  came  to  Japan."  In  the  large  towns  and 
cities  the  theatre  was  becoming  more  and  more 
the  usual  place  of  large  gatherings.  Let  us  look 
at  the  situation  of  the  modern  apostles  and  their 
occasional  experiences  with  the  "sweet  reason- 
ableness" of  Japanese  audiences.  In  one  in- 
stance, 

"After  the  opening  prayer  and  brief  intro- 
ductory remarks,  a  remarkable  altercation  oc- 
curred between  a  youthful  ringleader  of  the 
boisterous  portion  of  the  assembly  and  the  local 
evangelist.  The  occasion  of  this  was  that  the 
introducer  had  ventured  to  request  the  audience 
to  listen  quietly  and  to  reserve  any  possible  dis- 
sent for  inquiry  and  discussion  at  the  close  of  the 
meeting.  Upon  this  the  young  champion  wished 
to  be  informed  whether  the  present  addresses 
were  to  be  lectures  or  sermons;  if  the  latter,  he 

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Preacher  and  Translator 

and  his  mates  would  of  course  abstain  from  noisy 
demonstrations,  but  if  lectures,  they  claimed  an 
inalienable  right  of  expressing  their  assent  or  dis- 
sent by  all  the  customary  means, — which  cus- 
tomary means  are  often  sufficiently  disturbing. 
Our  interpellant  was  informed  that,  although 
lecturing  had  perhaps  been  mentioned  in  the 
public  notices.  Christian  lecturing  amounted 
really  to  about  the  same  thing  that  he  would  call 
preaching.  He  was  quite  satisfied  and  promised 
that  in  this  case  his  party  would  willingly  listen 
in  silence.  And  they  kept  the  promise,  except 
once  or  twice  in  the  case  of  one  of  the  Japanese 
speakers,  when  they  objected  loudly  that  he  was 
wandering  from  his  text  and  lapsing  from  preach- 
ing into  lecturing!  The  whole  thing  may  seem 
rather  trivial,  and  yet  it  is  significant  and  en- 
couraging. The  concession  in  favor  of  preaching 
on  the  part  of  these  young  hotheads  who  have 
very  little  respect  for  anybody  or  anything,  as 
well  as  the  restraint  they  must  have  laid  upon 
themselves  to  keep  their  part  of  the  voluntary 
compact,  was  a  surprise  to  all  of  us,  as  agreeable 
as  it  was  novel." 

In  primitive  Christianity,  throughout  the  Roman 
empire,  the  synagogue  was  the  cradle  of  the 
faith.  It  furnished  always  to  the  peripatetic 
apostles  a  place  in  which  to  proclaim  their  new 
theology,  that  is,  to  show  the  fulfillment  of  the 
old  kingdom,  priesthood,  and  prophecy  in  Christ. 
Whether  welcomed  or  abused  and  expelled,  the 
disciples  could  at  least  find  initiative  in  the  syna- 

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Verbeck  of  Japan 

gogue,  which  also  and  not  the  temple,  furnished 
out  of  its  own  life  the  organization  of  the  Chris- 
tian church.  In  Catholic  Europe  the  theatre 
grew  out  of  the  church.  In  new  Japan,  the 
churches  for  the  most  part  were  either  born  in  the 
theatre  or  found  their  cradles  in  its  edifice.  The 
players'  home  furnished  the  church  clothing,  so 
to  speak,  before  she  could  walk  for  herself.  An 
audience  room  ever  ready,  was  the  theatre,  with 
its  stage  and  auditorium,  its  aisles  and  its  facilities 
of  entrance,  exit,  and  with  its  ready-made  regular 
organization  for  the  easy  sitting  of  auditors  and 
the  platform  for  the  speakers,  with  the  personnel 
of  advertisers  and  janitors  and  the  material — 
pretty  much  everything  convenient  for  a  public 
gathering. 

Yet  let  no  Occidental  fall  victim  to  his  mental 
associations.  Any  one  accustomed  to  the  luxury 
of  metropolitan  theatres  in  America  or  Europe 
may  be  led  astray  by  the  word  alone.  One  must 
not  think  of  upholstery,  or  easy  chairs,  or  gilded 
and  decorated  ceilings,  walls,  or  luxurious  loges, 
or  of  electric  lights,  or  of  carpets.  Let  one  im- 
agine rather  enormous  barns  with  no  intermediary 
between  flesh  and  floor.  Indeed  often  mother 
earth  herself  furnished  not  "  standing  room  only," 
but  even  reserved  seats,  the  actual  cushions  being 
what  one's  own  bones  may  be  clothed  with. 
With  some  modern  exceptions  in  the  large  cities, 
no  signs  of  luxury  or  comfort,  in  our  sense  of 
the  word  are  to  be  seen  in  Japanese  playhouses. 
One  must  think  rather  of  great  wooden  tents 
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Preacher  and  Translator 

under  roof,  unwarmed  and  very  poorly  lighted. 
Often  the  kurombo,  or  men  with  blackened 
visage,  held  candles  fixed  at  the  end  of  long  poles 
close  up  to  faces  of  the  actors,  in  order  to  show 
the  play  of  simulated  emotion.  In  winter  these 
barn-like  structures  were  intensely  cold.  To  the 
average  missionary,  accustomed  to  the  atmos- 
phere of  air-tight  houses,  theatre-preaching  was 
a  great  trial  to  health.  Prolonged  exposure  both 
in  travelling  over  rough  roads  and  in  places  out 
of  the  way,  with  alternate  freezings  and  heatings 
in  the  theatre-barns,  helped  powerfully  to  break 
down  all  too  soon  Dr.  Verbeck  s  constitution. 

Nor  were  the  audiences  always  tractable  or  po- 
lite. Often  it  required  a  good  deal  of  skill  to 
subdue  the  unruly  element  in  the  form  of  "lewd 
fellows  of  the  baser  sort,"  egged  on  or  in  the 
pay  of  Buddhist  priests  or  fanatical  Shintoists,  or 
young  ruffians  who  had  lost  the  courtesy  which 
was  supposed  to  be  so  characteristic  of  Japan. 
Furthermore,  a  new  character  had  risen  in  the 
form  of  the  Soshi,  who  was  a  sort  of  a  malignant 
ghost  of  the  ronin  of  earlier  days.  The  word 
Soshi  may  be  roughly  translated,  ** stalwart." 
These  political  radicals,  or  fire-eaters,  to  decent 
citizens  and  genuine  patriots  and  even  to  minis- 
ters of  state  and  the  emperor's  own  servants, 
were  even  more  troublesome  than  they  were  to 
Christian  missionaries.  Besides  being  bullies, 
ruffians,  and  often  cowards  of  the  meanest  stripe, 
they  served  as  "heelers"  to  turbulent  politicians, 
or  were  ready  to  do  any  dirty  work  in  the  name 

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Verbeck  of  Japan 

of  * '  patriotism. "  They  so  pestered  the  emperor's 
lawful  servants  with  their  impudent  deputations, 
remonstrances,  and  advice,  that  it  was  necessary 
occasionally  for  the  government  to  issue  procla- 
mations to  disarm  and  to  deport  them  from 
Tokio, — sweeping  them  out  as  housemaid  would 
the  vermin  from  her  closets  and  kitchen.  Indeed 
it  was  these  fellows  who,  by  their  unwisdom 
and  brutality,  imperiled  the  very  existence  of 
that  constantly  increasing  measure  of  liberty 
which  was  being  given  to  the  people.  Good  men 
in  honorable  political  opposition  had  to  suffer  with 
the  bad.  It  sometimes  seemed  that  in  order  to 
smoke  out  the  rats,  the  government  was  in  dan- 
ger of  injuring  the  foundations  of  a  noble  struc- 
ture. 

Later  on,  Mr.  Verbeck  in  company  with  his 
friend  and  colleague,  Rev.  Henry  Stout  of  Naga- 
saki, went  through  Kiushiu  and  among  other 
places  visited  Sago,  the  home  of  his  first  convert, 
Wakasa.  Dr.  Stout  wrote  from  memory  in 
1898: 

"  How  different  the  circumstances  on  the  occa- 
sion of  our  visit!  Now  we  could  preach  the 
gospel  openly.  We  held  a  great  preaching  serv- 
ice in  an  old  theatre,  with  thousands  in  attend- 
ance and  officials  on  the  platform  to  guarantee 
order.  Another  night  we  had  a  service  in  a  house 
in  a  remote  portion  of  the  city.  Part  of  the  floor 
gave  way — not  a  serious  matter — but  a  disturb- 
ance arose.  On  our  way  to  the  hotel  some  lads 
of  the  '  baser  sort '  followed  us  with  taunts  and 

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Preacher  and  Translator 

derisive  shouts.  Finding  that  this  produced  no 
effect,  they  began  pelting  us  with  sand  and 
gravel.  Finally,  the  doctor  was  struck  square  in 
the  back  with  an  old  sandal.  It  was  a  cruel 
blow.  He  turned  upon  the  boys  and  adminis- 
tered a  reprimand,  in  which  something  of  temper 
was  not  wanting.  However,  the  effect  was  not 
unfavorable.  The  good  man  did  feel  the  indig- 
nity keenly,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  he 
could  dismiss  the  occurrence  from  his  mind." 

Another  course  of  preaching  (in  1885)  was  at 
Mishima  in  the  Hakone  mountains.  Here  the 
militant  pagans  tried  to  interfere  with  the  propa- 
gation of  Christian  truth,  by  getting  the  police- 
men to  come  and  break  up  the  meeting.  Their 
design  was  frustrated  by  Mr.  Verbeck's  thorough 
knowledge  of  human  nature,  whether  priestly, 
official,  or  commonplace,  and  of  the  law,  and  his 
firmness  demanding  its  enforcement.  Rev.  Mr. 
Yasukawa  was  especially  useful  in  checkmating 
the  reactionaries. 

The  "upper"  classes  in  Japan  who  looked 
down  on  the  religion  of  Jesus  and  the  "  uppish  " 
folks  at  the  seaports  who  opposed  aggressive 
Christianity,  were  chaining  themselves  to  a 
corpse,  just  as  the  old  Latins  of  the  decadent 
Roman  empire  did.  The  new  life  of  New  Japan 
is  linked  with  Him  who  came  that  men  might 
have  life  more  abundantly.  As  opposed  to  the 
reactionaries,  both  native  and  foreign,  Christian- 
ity had  begun  to  win  the  respect  of  the  leading 
thinkers  of  the  nation  headed  in  popularity  by 

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Verbeck  of  Japan 

Fukuzawa,  whose  remarkable  articles  in  his  own 
and  other  newspapers  attracted  great  attention. 
To  his  multifarious  labors,  Fukuzawa— the  great 
apostle  of  western  civilization  in  Japan,  adds  that 
of  editor.  He  is  one  of  the  most  voluminous  of 
writers,  his  pen  touching  every  subject  with  grace 
and  force.  Hosts  of  his  friends  on  either  side  of 
the  Pacific  rejoice  in  the  recognition  of  his  work 
for  the  good  of  his  countrymen  in  the  gift  from 
the  emperor  in  connection  with  the  crown 
prince's  wedding,  in  May,  1900,  of  50,000  yen,  in 
lieu  of  a  patent  of  nobility,  which  would  have 
been  gladly  conferred,  only  that  Fukuzawa  pre- 
ferred to  remain  a  commoner. 

Heart  sorrows  were  happily  not  frequent  in 
the  case  of  this  earnest  missionary,  but  some- 
times they  came  with  crushing  force.  On  Jan- 
uary 26,  1885,  he  wrote:  "  I  have  but  just  time 
to  let  you  know  that  last  night  we  received  the 
very  sad  news  from  California,  that  early  in  De- 
cember last  we  lost  our  darling  boy,  Guido,  age 
sixteen."  The  incident  turned  his  mind  to  East- 
ern America  which  he  longed  to  visit  with  lei- 
sure. 

He  wrote  February  i,  1885,  of  his  longings,  but 
he  could  not  go  as  yet,  for  there  was  just  below 
the  horizon  the  sun  of  constitutional  Japan.  Al- 
ready in  the  refraction  of  faith,  Guido  Verbeck 
saw  the  full  glory  and  rejoiced.  He  saw  the 
long  bright  day  already  dawning.  Not  in  vain 
had  he  a  generation  before  taught  his  young 
pupils,  now  statesmen  high  in  office,  the  New 

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Preacher  and  Translator 

Testament  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States. 

*' There  is  another  consideration  which  has  a 
good  deal  of  weight  with  me.  The  year  1890, 
which  is  to  witness  the  estabhshment  of  the  new 
constitution  of  this  empire,  and  promises  to  be  a 
period  of  immense  importance  to  the  Master's 
great  cause  and  to  the  church  and  mission  work, 
is  gradually  drawing  near.  In  that  year  (1890), 
and  the  year  preceding  it,  I  should  be  very  loath 
to  be  absent  from  the  field  and  work." 

This  time  he  must  go  home  at  the  mission's 
charges,  for  Guido  Verbeck  never  saved  any- 
thing. Whether  his  salary  were  a  thousand  or 
seven  thousand  dollars,  they  were  all  winged,  in 
some  way,  or  put  to  flight  by  his  constant  gen- 
erosity, his  self-forgetfulness,  and  lack  of  worldly 
mindedness  and  business  skill. 

"Since  I  was  first  sent  to  Japan  in  1859,  this 
will  be  the  first  time  that  I  leave  it  at  the  mission's 
expense.  In  1873  I  travelled  at  my  own  expense; 
and  in  1878  I  returned  home  with  my  family  and 
lived  a  year  with  them  in  California,  altogether  at 
my  own  charges.  It  was  only  since  my  leaving 
California,  in  August,  1879,  that  I  became  again 
chargeable  to  the  mission  both  for  myself  and 
family." 

Two  years  passed  away  in  steady  toil  at  Bible 
translation,  evangelistic  tours,  on  the  work  of 
hymnology,  in  teaching  in  the  theological  school, 
and  in  manifold  labors  connected  with  the  organ- 
ization and  maintenance  of  Christian  Churches. 

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Verbeck  of  Japan 

His  special  work  amid  many  was  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Psalms,  a  happy  task,  which  on 
the  19th  of  July,  1887,  he  completed,  finishing 
on  that  day,  as  usual,  five  hours'  toil  in  the 
study. 

Another  long  tour  was  made  in  Kiushiu  in 
1888.  When  he  wrote  about  this  he  was  hoping 
to  come  to  America  to  spend  a  year  in  one  of  the 
intellectual  and  religious  centres,  New  York  or 
Philadelphia,  for  his  own  and  his  family's  sake. 
For  nearly  two  years  past  he  had  suffered  an 
impediment  of  his  right  hand,  brought  on  by  a 
sprain  made  in  his  daily  gymnastics.  This 
second  Kiushiu  tour  was  taken,  leaving  Tokio 
October  9th,  and  returning  December  7th.  Two 
weeks  of  his  time  were  spent  at  Kagoshima  in 
Satsuma.  Everywhere  he  found  Japanese  hearers, 
as  in  the  days  of  the  Reformation,  when  Bible 
exposition  was  new  and  the  message  was  fresh, 
ready  to  listen  by  the  hour.  On  one  occasion  he 
wrote: 

''This  endurance  on  the  part  of  Japanese 
audiences  (especially  rural  audiences),  at  preach- 
ing and  lecturing  assemblies,  while  it  taxes  to  the 
utmost  the  powers  and  resources  of  the  speaker, 
especially  when  he  is  unassisted,  on  the  other 
hand  also  helps  him  not  a  little;  for  he  need  have 
no  fear  of  exhausting  the  patience  of  his  hearers. 
When  there  is  a  number  of  speakers,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  way  of  having,  with  due  notice 
beforehand,  a  well  attended  meeting  from  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  till  ten  o'clock  at  night, 

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Preacher  and  Translator 

with  a  pause  of  an  hour  or  an  hour  and  a-half  for 
supper  intervening. 

"In  the  evening  we  again  found  the  same 
excessively  cold  theatre  well  filled,  the  audience 
being  even  more  attentive  and  well  behaved  than 
on  the  previous  day.  Mr.  Hayashi  gave  a  spirited 
address  on  the  Superiority  of  Christian  Ethics; 
Mr.  Miura  lectured  on  the  Person  and  Character 
of  Christ;  and  finally  I  treated  of  the  Survival  of 
the  Fittest  from  a  Christian  point  of  view,  ex- 
plaining the  fittest  to  be  whatever  is  most  nearly 
conformed  to  God's  will;  and  inferring  thence  the 
survival  of  Christianity  after  the  downfall  of 
idolatry,  Buddhism,  and  all  false  religions  and 
philosophies.  The  lectures,  though  fewer  in 
number,  being  longer  than  those  of  the  night 
before,  we  again  retired  at  a  late  hour." 

The  inevitable  change  comes  when  the  gospel 
message  is  less  of  a  novelty.  A  Japanese  pastor 
in  June,  1900,  tells  me  that  everywhere  in  the 
cities  the  native  Christians  increasingly  like  short 
sermons. 

The  biographer  feels  that  he  would  hardly  be 
forgiven  if  his  work  should  not  show  some 
familiarity  with  Dr.  Verbeck's  commonplace 
books— "Varia,"  he  labelled  them— and  sermon 
notes.  In  his  system,  pencil  marks  of  various 
colors  meant  much  to  his  own  eye  when  preach- 
ing. The  same  system  of  mnemonics  and  asso- 
ciation helped  him  in  reading.  Dr.  Verbeck  was 
an  omnivorous  reader,  with  a  memory  of  wonder- 
fully retentive  power.    Below  are  a  very  few 

321 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

anecdotes,  notes,  incidents,  and  illustrations  jot- 
ted down  in  his  thesauros. 


NOT  NUMBERS  ONLYII! 

Do  not  rely  on  the  number  of  adherents  to  any 
religious  faith,  in  order  to  recommend  it  as 
superior  to  others;  but  rather  on  present  vitality 
(not  activity  only);  on  recent  growth  (in  the 
presence  of  modern  science  and  politics) ;  on  its 
predominance  as  a  force  in  building  up  useful 
and  beneficent  institutions;  on  its  spiritual  faith- 
fulness; on  its  spiritual  and  material  sacrifices; 
on  its  being  a  power  for  good  in  society;  on  its 
shining  lights  in  the  past,  and  especially  present; 
on  its  history  and  historical  development;  on  its 
accord  with  reason ;  on  its  nearness  to  God's  will 
and  word. 

"ACCUSING  GOD  AND  PROVIDENCE" 

/-  A  man,  having  spent  his  money  riotously, 
comes  to  a  town,  and  having  nothing  special  to 
do,  walked  about  the  streets  sight-seeing.  At 
last  he  begins  to  feel  hungry,  and  passing  a 
baker  shop,  he  puts  his  hand  into  his  pocket  for 
money  to  buy  some  bread.  Finding  none,  he 
bursts  out  in  anger:  "Bah,  this  is  a  miserable 
town ;  1  have  not  even  a  penny  to  buy  a  little  loaf 
of  bread!    A  curse  upon  it!!!" 

People  having  no  intellectual  coin  in  their  heads, 
take  it  out  in  vilifying  Zion,  and  the  Kingdom! 

^  322 


Preacher  and  Translator 

SIMILARITY  OF  "THINKING  YOU  HAVE"  AND  "REALLY 
HAVING  " 

Mrs.  D.  B.  McCartee  sent  a  relation  a  sum  of 
money  to  buy  herself  some  "  Satsuma  vv^are"  in 
New  York  city.  After  a  time  Mrs.  McCartee  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  New  York  stating  that  the 
"  Satsuma  ware  "  had  been  bought  and  that  her 
friend  was  exceedingly  happy  with  its  posses- 
sion. A  year  or  two  later,  the  relation  in  New 
York  died,  and  when  another  year  later  Mrs. 
McCartee  went  home  and  called  at  the  relation's 
house,  she  was  shown  the  "Satsuma  ware" 
which  had  given  so  much  satisfaction,  and,  lo 
and  behold!  the  ware  was  only  a  homemade 
imitation  of  Satsuma ! ! ! 

THE  BEST  PLOUGH 

There  is  no  "best  plough."    Different  soils  ^ 
require  very  different  ploughs!    So  with  meth- 
ods of  teaching  and  preaching;  and  hence  the 
use  and  usefulness  of  denominational  differences! 
Plough  well,    plough   deep,— this    is   the  great, 
thing!  / 

CROW  IN  DARK  AND  UNBORN  BABY 

At  a  country  meeting  a  man  got  up  and  left  the 
hall  saying,  "Why,  this  is  like  seeing  a  crow  fly 
on  a  dark  night  and  hearing  an  unborn  baby  cry." 

WHEN   MEN   FALL   FOUL   OF   EACH   OTHER   IN 
PERSONALITIES 

An  owl  perched  on  a  high  roof.  Two  men 
were  to  kill  or  knock  it  down.    To  make  sure, 

323 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

one  of  them  was  to  shoot  an  arrow  from  one 
side  of  the  house,  while  the  other  was  to  throw 
a  big  stone  from  the  opposite  side.  Result:  The 
stone  killed  the  archer  and  the  arrow  killed  the 
stone  thrower;  but  the  owl  sat  still  and  winked 
her  eyes. 

MEMORY 

The  perspective  of  memory  is  in  many  cases 
the  reverse  of  ocular  perspective: — the  farther 
back  in  the  past,  the  bigger  things  appear,  as  in 
the  events  and  experiences  of  youth  recalled. 

**THE  WORD  IS  everlasting" 

In  posts  and  sign  boards  in  Japan,  upon  which 
the  legend  is  written  with  China  ink  containing 
charcoal  powder,  it  is  often  seen  that  the  wood 
between  the  writing  is  worn  away  by  time  and 
weather  of  years,  while  the  writing  abides  intact, 
slightly  in  relief  above  the  surrounding  wood. 
So  the  Word  of  God  upon  the  tablets  of  the  ages. 

ANECDOTE 

Dr.  Thompson  preached  on  the  sinfulness  of 
all  men,  "none  righteous,  no  not  one,"  before  a 
large  Japanese  audience,  when  a  ''soshi"  sprang 
to  his  feet,  bawling  out:  **What!  do  you  mean 
to  say  that  our  emperor  too  is  a  sinner  ?  "  The 
doctor  was  startled  and  did  not  know,  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment,  what  to  say,  or  how  to  deal 
with  this  unexpected  interruption,  when  he  was 
as  unexpectedly  helped  out  of  the  difficulty  as  it 

324 


Preacher  and  Translator 

had  been  sprung  upon  him.  A  lawyer  (once  a 
believer  himself,  somewhat  under  the  influence 
of  liquor)  also  sprang  up  and  with  the  air  of  say- 
ing something  quite  incontrovertible  (of  course) 
declared  that  the  soshi  (interlocutor)  was  quite 
wrong,  since  Christianity  and  the  emperor  had 
no  relation  whatever  with  each  other. 

PREPARING  SERMONS  TO  LAST 

I  know  a  preacher  who  says  that  he  dislikes  to 
preach  any  of  his  sermons  over  again.  The  fact 
I  believe  to  be,  that  his  sermons  are  not  prepared 
to  last;  they  all  are  of  a  more  or  less  "occa- 
sional "  character,— have  no  original  permanency 
in  them.  There  are,  of  course,  and  there  must 
be  "occasional"  addresses  and  sermons.  But 
generally  sermons  should  be,  from  the  first,  pre- 
pared so  as  to  be  fit  for  repeated  use;— not  in- 
deed, verbally  throughout  the  same,  but  substan- 
tially. This  rule  will  hold  good  especially  in 
circuit  and  in  evangelistic  preaching.  Care  and 
time  bestowed  upon  the  first  preparation  of 
sermons  will  save  much  time  and  labor  in  the 
future. 

The  year  1889  Dr.  Verbeck  carried  out  his  plan 
of  going  to  America,  visiting  a  great  many  of 
the  Reformed  churches  both  East  and  West, 
speaking  in  Dutch  and  English.  He  remained  in 
the  United  States  until  July  i6th,  sailing  from 
Manhattan  Island  in  the  steamer  City  of  New 
York,  with  his  two  daughters,  staying  at  Zeist, 
but  visiting  in  one  great  tour  the  principal  cities 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

of  the  Netherlands  and  speaking  in  many  of  the 
churches  great  and  small.  He  enjoyed  intensely 
this  visit  to  the  fatherland  and  especially  that 
made  to  Delft,  where  is  the  Westminster  Abbey 
of  Japan,  containing  the  tombs  of  the  princes  of 
the  House  of  Orange,  and  of  Hugo  Grotius.  On 
August  1 6th,  he  was  taken  ill  with  a  light  par- 
alytic attack  on  his  right  side,  but  quickly  recov- 
ering he  fulfilled  his  engagements,  which  had 
been  carefully  arranged  in  the  tour  by  the  minis- 
ter of  the  great  orphanage  at  Neerbosch.  He  re- 
turned to  Japan  via  America  and  sailed  at  three 
p.  M.  January  13th,  1891,  by  steamer  Oceania, 
having  among  his  fellow-passengers  to  Japan, 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Nitobe.  His  letter  of  February  23d, 
1 89 1,  says:  "  Here  I  am  at  work  again  almost  as 
if  I  had  not  been  away  at  all,— four  lectures  a 
week,  requiring  about  six  hours  of  preparation 
each,  and  preaching  on  Sundays — and  I  can  as- 
sure you  it  is  pleasant  to  have  regular  work 
again." 


326 


XVI 

A  MAN  WITHOUT  A  COUNTRY 

After  correspondence  with  the  State  Depart- 
ment at  Washington,  Mr.  Verbeck  found  from 
Secretary  of  State,  James  G.  Blaine,  that  he  could 
not  get  citizenship  from  the  United  States  govern- 
ment, so  on  arriving  in  Japan  in  1891,  he  wrote 
to  the  Japanese  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
The  correspondence  explains  all  and  needs  no 
comment  from  the  biographer.  Secretary  Awoki 
was  formerly  Minister  to  Germany,  an  Enomoto 
student  in  Holland  in  the  early  sixties  and  the 
same  whom  we  heard  in  1868,  later  Minister  to 
Russia  and  a  statesman  of  great  ability. 

While  in  the  United  States,  Dr.  Verbeck  had 
endeavored  to  secure  American  citizenship,  but 
there  were  found  to  be  insuperable  obstacles  and 
Secretary  James  G.  Blaine  referred  the  matter  to 
the  American  Minister  in  Japan  to  see  what  could 
be  done.  The  issue  is  best  set  forth  by  showing 
the  correspondence.  Mr.  Verbeck  trusted  the 
Japanese  even  to  willingness  to  become  a  citizen 
of  the  empire  and  his  faith  was  rewarded  accord- 
ing to  his  works. 

Tokio,  March  3,  1891. 
*'  To  HIS  Excellency  the  Viscount  Awoki, 

**  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
'*  Sir:— Having  recently  returned  to  this  em- 
pire after  a  temporary  absence,  I  find  that,  having 

327 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

left  the  Netherlands,  my  native  country,  about 
forty  years  ago  to  come  to  the  United  States  of 
America,  I  have  legally  lost  my  original  nation- 
ality, and  although  I  took  the  necessary  steps  in 
order  to  be  naturalized  in  the  United  States,  my 
residence  there  was  not  of  sufficient  duration  to 
mature  my  naturalization  in  that  country. 

"If  there  existed  in  this  empire  laws  for  the 
naturalization  of  foreigners,  I  should  under  these 
circumstances  gladly  avail  myself  of  them.  But 
in  the  absence  of  such  laws,  I  take  the  great 
liberty  to  request  of  your  Excellency  to  be  so 
very  kind,  if  possible,  to  use  such  means  as  your 
Excellency  may  deem  proper  and  suitable  to  have 
me  placed  under  the  protection  of  the  Supreme 
Government  of  this  empire. 

"  I  have  but  little  to  recommend  myself  to  your 
Excellency's  favor,  unless  I  be  allowed  to  state, 
for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  perhaps  not 
know  it,  that  I  have  resided  and  labored  in  this 
empire  for  more  than  thirty  years  and  spent  one- 
half  of  this  long  period  in  the  service  of  both  the 
former  and  the  present  government  of  Japan. 

"  Hoping  that  your  Excellency  will  very  kindly 
consider  my  request,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir, 
your  Excellency's  most  obedient  servant, 

"G.  F.  Verbeck." 

"  Tokio,  July  4,  1891. 
"To  THE  Hon.  Guido  F.  Verbeck, 

"Sir: — In  consequence  of  your  having  lost 
your  original    status  as    a  subject  of    Holland 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

without  having  acquired  the  rights  and  privileges 
of  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America,  you 
are  left  without  any  national  status;  and  desiring 
to  live  under  the  protection  of  our  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment, you  did — in  the  month  of  March  of  the 
present  year — make  an  application  for  this  pur- 
pose to  the  former  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
which  was  endorsed  by  him. 

"You  have  resided  in  our  empire  for  several 
tens  of  years,  the  ways  in  which  you  have  ex- 
erted yourself  for  the  benefit  of  our  empire  are 
by  no  means  few,  and  you  have  been  always  be- 
loved and  respected  by  our  officials  and  people. 
It  is  therefore  with  great  pleasure  that  I  send  you, 
on  a  separate  sheet,  the  special  passport  which  is 
desired  and  which  I  trust  will  duly  reach  you. 
Furthermore,  the  special  passport  above  referred 
to  will  be  of  force  and  effect  for  one  year  dating 
from  this  day,  and  permission  is  granted  you  to 
renew  and  exchange  the  same  annually. 
"  Respectfully, 

"  Enomoto  Takeaki, 
"Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs." 
(Translated  from  the  original 

by  Dr.  D.  B.  McCartee.) 

Special  Passport  (Translation) 

"G.  F.  Verbeck,  Order  of  Merit  3d  class; 
Maria  Verbeck;  (here  follows  a  list  of  seven 
children) ; — the  persons  above  named  being  under 
obligation,  while  in  this  empire,  to  obey  the  im- 
perial laws,  and  regulations  in  the  same  manner 

329 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

as  the  subjects  of  the  empire,  shall  be  permitted 
from  July  4th,  1891,  until  July  3d,  1892,  to  travel 
freely  throughout  the  empire  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  subjects  of  the  same,  and  to  sojourn  and 
reside  in  any  locality." 
(Seal  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs). 

*  Tokio,  July  6,  1891. 
*'To  HIS  Excellency  Viscount  Enomoto, 

"Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
"Sir: — This  is  simply  to  express  my  most 
sincere  thanks  to  your  Excellency  and  the  Vis- 
count Awoki  for  your  great  kindness  in  assisting 
me  out  of  the  peculiar  difficulty  of  my  political 
status  (or  rather  want  of  status)  by  sending  me 
your  Excellency's  very  kind  letter  of  the  4th  in- 
stant and  a  special  passport,  which  places  me — in 
gracious  compliance  with  my  somewhat  bold  re- 
quest of  the  month  of  March  last  past — under 
the  powerful  protection  of  the  empire  of  Japan. 
I  assure  your  Excellency  that  I  cannot  express 
sufficiently  my  obligation  for  this  special  favor 
and  honor  of  which  I  shall  avail  myself  always 
with  the  utmost  care  and  prudence.  I  have  the 
honor  to  be,  sir,  your  Excellency's  most  obedient 
servant,  G.  F.  Verbeck." 

The  honor  thus  conferred  upon  an  alien  is 
absolutely  unique  in  the  modern  history  of  Japan. 
Dr.  Verbeck  wrote  home: 

''This  solution  of  my  great  difficulty  has  given 
me  much  rest.  In  fact,  I  could  not  well  have 
^0 


;^^  S\\  ^-^  kr'^'-'  v^^^^. Y^4>^ 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

continued  in  this  country,  unless  it  had  been 
solved  in  some  such  way  as  now  adopted.  If 
anything  I  have  obtained  much  more  than  was 
absolutely  necessary  in  the  case.  I  assure  you  I 
am  very  thankful  to  the  divine  Disposer  of  all 
these  matters.  Doubts  have  been  finely  cleared 
up  and  faith  has  been  confirmed." 

The  Japan  Mail,  the  ablest  newspaper  published 
in  Japan,  thus  commented  upon  this  transaction: 

"  His  case  is  also  well  worth  the  consideration 
of  those  who  so  strenuously  object  to  the  idea  of 
submitting  to  Japanese  jurisdiction.  Dr.  Verbeck, 
one  of  the  leading  sinologues  in  Japan,  has  had 
exceptional  opportunities,  during  his  thirty  years' 
residence,  of  judging  the  disposition  of  the  people 
and  estimating  the  nature  of  their  institutions. 
Yet  we  find  him  unhesitatingly  placing  himself, 
his  wife,  and  his  family  under  Japanese  juris- 
diction. The  act  of  such  a  man  seems  to  us 
more  eloquent  than  the  talk  of  a  hundred  cavillers 
who  raise  a  barrier  of  imaginary  perils  in  the  path 
of  free  intercourse." 

Even  at  the  risk  of  repetition,  it  is  well  to 
know  fully  of  Dr.  Verbeck's  manner  among  a 
people  to  whom  etiquette  is  almost  a  religion,  and 
with  many  of  whom  it  is  a  substitute  for  faith 
and  worship.  One  who  knew  him  well  wrote 
in  1900: 

"There  is  no  doubt  that  Dr.  Verbeck  exercised 
great  tact  when  forced  into  association  with  a 
certain  class  of  Japanese  men— the  official  class— 
who  are  to  this  day,  afraid  of  other  missionaries 

331 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

— afraid  even  now,  because  most  of  these  think 
they  must  force  religion  upon  every  Japanese  they 
meet,  regardless  of  time,  place,  and  circumstance. 
I  am  wrong  to  say  *  most  of  them ' — but  I  am 

sorry  to  say  there  are  some  others  of  the 

type,  though  he  is  the  most  notorious  in  reputa- 
tion among  the  foreigners.  Dr.  Verbeck  em- 
ployed the  reserve  and  courtesy  that  men  of  the 
world,  who  have  savoir-faire,  show  in  their 
intercourse  with  other  gentlemen.  This  attracted 
the  sincere  respect  and  confidence  of  the  Japa- 
nese. They  were  not  frightened  off  by  dread  of 
insidious  and  too  personal  attacks.  At  the  same 
time  Dr.  Verbeck  never  flattered  the  natives;  he 
was  always  direct  in  his  truthfulness;  being 
polite  too,  always.  This  is  admitted  by  all  who 
knew  him — natives  and  foreigners.  It  has  been, 
and  still  is,  almost  impossible  to  reach  with 
Christianity  a  certain  class  of  Japanese  men,  but 
to  gain  their  respect  and  confidence,  as  a  Christian 
gentleman,  and  to  be  sought  for  advice,  are  great 
victories." 

Another  secret  of  his  power  with  a  people 
naturally  suspicious  and  distrustful  is  revealed  in 
a  letter  to  a  friend  in  1871.  Declining  his  request 
in  one  way.  Dr.  Verbeck  gratified  it  in  another  by 
assuming  the  trouble,  responsibility  and  expense 
himself. 

"One  of  my  principles  in  dealing  with  the 
Japanese,  and  one  to  which  I  attribute  a  large 
part  of  the  confidence  reposed  in  me  by  them,  is 
'never  to  ask  personal  favors  of  them.'    I  do  for 

332 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

them  what  under  the  circumstances  I  can,  and  am 
content  with  what  they  consider  as  my  due  in 
return.  This  principle,  which  by  long  use  has 
become  almost  a  second  nature  with  me,  I  feel 
reluctant  to  lay  aside.  They  have  learned  to 
trust  me  as  a  safe  man,  as  regards  asking  per- 
sonal favors,  and  I  should  not  like  to  see  their 
confidence  shaken." 

For  about  ten  years,  on  and  off.  Dr.  Verbeck 
taught  in  the  Meiji  Gaku-in  or  the  College  and 
Theological  School  supported  by  the  churches  of 
Reformed  Christianity  holding  the  Presbyterial 
system  of  government  and  doctrine.  He  wrote 
in  1891: 

"  I  shall  mention  my  branches  of  study  in  the 
school.  They  are  (or  were,  I  hope):  Intro- 
duction to  the  Old  Testament;  D°  to  the  New 
Testament;  Old  Testament  exegesis;  Pastoral 
Theology  and  Homiletics.  I  taught  all  these  in 
Japanese,  although  for  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment Introduction  the  students  had  English  text- 
books. But  all  of  these  studies,  except  Homi- 
letics, could  be  taught  in  English  and  with  English 
text-books,  the  best  English  student  in  the  class 
acting  as  professor's  interpreter." 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Dr.  Verbeck  greatly 
enjoyed  this  sort  of  indoor  work.  Furthermore 
this  was  a  period  of  doctrinal  change,  of  the  ever 
new  theology  fulfilling  the  old,  and  it  is  not 
certain  that  the  grand  veteran  could  see  eye  to 
eye  with  the  younger  and  possibly  less  wise  men. 
The   ebb   and   flow  of   opinion  in  the  native 

333 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

churches  troubled  him.  He  was  as  much  dis- 
turbed at  the  new  development  of  thought  as 
was  Washington  with  Jefferson  and  Hamilton  in 
his  cabinet,  pitted  like  game  cocks  against  each 
other.  How  he  looked  at  the  situation  may  be 
best  shown  by  his  comments  on  a  typical  gather- 
ing of  aliens  and  natives,  as  found  in  a  document 
written  in  1898,  just  before  his  death,  and  left 
among  his  papers,  no  names  being  recognizable. 
He  heads  the  article  as  follows : 

AN  EXTRAORDINARY  EPISODE 

In  the  History  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan 

(After  rough  notes  of  the  time— 1888) 

The  thing  happened  at  the  time  of  the  calam- 
itous courtship  between  the  Union  Church  of 
Christ  in  Japan  and  the  native  Congregational 
Church,  with  the  view  to  bring  about  a  union  of 
these  two  churches.  In  fact,  it  was  at  about  the 
time  that  the  lengthy  negotiations  seemed  to 
draw  toward  a  culmination,  but  when  it  was 
yet  uncertain  whether  it  would  be  "on'*  or 
''off."    .     .     . 

At  that  critical  time,  the  leaders  in  this  move- 
ment .  .  .  became  aware  that  many  of  the 
pastors,  evangelists,  elders,  deacons,  and  of  the 
laity  of  the  Itchi-Kyokwai  were  still  strongly  op- 
posed to  the  proposed  union  with  the  Congre- 
gational Church.  One  chief  reason  of  this  aver- 
sion was  known  to  lie  in  the  fact  that  the  pro- 
posed union  would  necessitate  the  relinquishment, 
334 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

in  large  part  at  least,  of  their  church  standards. 
These  people  had  been  sedulously  taught  that  the 
Westminster  Confession  and  Shorter  Catechism 
and  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  contained  a  state- 
ment of  sound  Christian  doctrine;  they  had 
adopted  these  as  their  church  standards  many 
years  before  (1879)  and,  as  a  church,  had  pros- 
pered by  them ;  they  had  learned  to  regard  these 
documents  as  indispensable  instruments  for  the 
upbuilding  and  maintenance  of  their  church,  and 
many  of  their  best  men  had  become  warmly  at- 
tached to  them.  On  these  accounts  it  might 
easily  happen  that  a  majority  could  not  be  gotten, 
when  the  Union  scheme  should  be  submitted  to 
these  good  people  for  a  final  vote. 

In  this  state  of  things,  the  so-called  leaders 
conceived  the  bright  idea  that  a  special  but  in- 
formal meeting  should  be  called,  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  instructing  the  deluded  conservatives  in 
this  case,  so  as  to  show  them  the  futility  of  their 
own  or  any  other  extensive  church  standards. 
.  .  .  A  large  gathering  of  pastors,  evangelists, 
elders,  deacons,  and  laymen  was  expected.  The 
meeting  was  to  be  held  in  the  centrally  situated 
Nihon-Bashi  Church.  Not  being  in  sympathy 
with  the  object  of  the  meeting,  I  at  first  did  not 
intend  to  go,  but  at  the  last  moment  1  made  up 
my  mind  to  attend.  When  I  arrived  at  the 
church,  I  found  it  quite  full  of  a  respectable  lot  of 
people  and  all  in  readiness  to  open  the  meeting. 
Before  I  had  taken  a  seat,  Mr.  Iroha  moved  that  I 
should  take  the  chair,  which  I  could  not  well  help 

335 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

doing.  The  chief,  in  fact,  the  only  speaker  was 
Mr.  Nihohe.     .     .     . 

I  did  not  note  down  at  the  time  all  the  argu- 
ments used  to  show  the  futility  of  extensive 
Creeds  and  Catechisms  in  Japan ;  but  they  were 
such  as  one  often  hears  from  those  who  do  not 
like  full  statements  of  doctrine  such  as  are  usually 
found  in  these  documents.  The  general  trend 
and  tenor  of  the  address  covered  most,  if  not  all, 
of  the  following  arguments,  although  perhaps 
quite  differently  or  not  so  fully  stated  as  here  set 
down: 

That  Creeds  and  Catechisms  are  not  Christi- 
anity—(who  says  that  they  are  ?) ;— that  all  that 
is  in  them  is  already  supplied  in  the  Bible— (true, 
but  generally  how  difficult  for  unlearned  ne- 
ophytes out  of  heathenism  to  find,  rightly  collate 
and  comprehend!);— THAT  after  all  the  final  ap- 
peal in  matters  of  doctrine  and  ecclesiastical 
practice  is  to  the  Bible— (nobody  maintains  that 
it  is  not); — that  they  are  the  outcome  of  the 
ancient  and  post-reformation  history  of  the 
church,  of  which  the  Japanese  know  nothing  and 
with  which  they  have  nothing  to  do— (much  of 
their  value  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  are  of  his- 
torical origin  and  not  merely  theoretically  con- 
cocted affairs) ; — that  a  large  part  of  them  is  in- 
tended to  guard  against  various  errors  and  here- 
sies of  those  distant  ages,  quite  unknown  in 
Japan,  this  large  part  of  them  being  therefore 
quite  inapplicable  and  valueless  here,  in  fact,  per- 
haps rather  suggestive  and  dangerous — (not  so 

336 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

unknown  as  Mr.  Nihohe  imagines,  and  sure  to 
spring  up  here  too,  from  the  perversity  of  the 
same  human  nature!); — that  too  detailed  Cate- 
chisms and  Creeds  are  rather  calculated  to  keep 
people  out  of  the  church — (it  is  not  desirable,  nay 
rather  dangerous  to  have  people  in  the  church 
who  are  not  pretty  well  grounded  in  the  faith; 
besides,  denominations  with  the  most  pronounced 
tenets)  .  .  .  the  Episcopalians  with  their 
prayer-book,  the  Baptists  with  their  immersion, 
the  Methodists  with  their  organic  connection 
with  a  foreign  church  (that  bugbear  of  Mr. 
Nihohe,  Tochiri,  Nuruwo,  Wakayo  &  Co.),  these 
denominations  have  in  recent  years  prospered 
better  in  Japan  than  the  Union  Church  of  Christ, 
(comprising  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed 
Churches)  with  its  little  skeleton  of  a  confession. 
That  there  is  much  in  them  not  essential  to  sal- 
vation— (the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  besides,  what  is  not  essential  to  salva- 
tion may  be  essential  to  the  education,  harmoniza- 
tion, and  the  keeping  together  of  a  well  ordered 
church) ;— THAT  full  church  standards  are  very 
good  things  for  those  that  like  them,  but  that  it 
would  not  be  right  to  force  them  upon  every- 
body— (are  they  forced  upon  anybody  in  the 
United  States  ?) ; — that  a  man  might  be  well  up 
in  Creeds  and  yet  not  be  a  Christian,  and  on  the 
other  hand,  a  man  might  not  know  any  Creed  or 
Catechism  and  yet  be  an  exemplary  Christian — 
(one  might  say  the  same  of  the  Old  Testament 
saints) ; — that  a  simple  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  is  all 

337 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

that  is  requisite  in  order  to  personal  salvation — 
(that  is  what  our  Catechisms  teach :  Shorter  Cate- 
chism, question  38  and  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
question  21). 

As  I  said  before,  I  was  called  to  take  the  chair. 
Again  and  again,  I  felt  like  jumping  up  and  beg 
Mr.  Nihohe  to  stop;  for  I  knew  that  incalculable 
harm  was  being  done  all  the  time.  This  I  could 
clearly  see  in  the  faces  of  the  native  Christians 
present,  some  on  one  side  of  the  question  under 
discussion  and  some  on  the  other,  some  trium- 
phant and  some  despondent,— one  elder  actually 
shedding  bitter  tears.  I  contained  myself,  but 
was  filled  with  amazement,  sitting  on  thorns,  as 
it  were,  all  the  time.     .     .    . 

More  than  once  have  I  listened  to  injudicious 
remarks  from  platform  or  pulpit,  but  never  to 
any  so  much  as  these  of  Mr.  Nihohe's  at  that 
memorable  meeting  in  the  Nihon-Bashi  Church, 
now  about  ten  years  ago,  addressed  to  a  gather- 
ing of  weak  believers  but  just  emerged — if  quite 
emerged — from  the  darkness,  the  uncleanness 
and  the  delusion  of  heathenism.  These  people 
had  as  yet  but  little  knowledge  of  Christianity 
and  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  beyond  what  they 
had  at  one  time  gratefully  gathered  from  those 
very  church  standards  which  were  now  to 
be  taken  away  from  them.  It  was  a  pitiable 
case!    .    .    . 

How  silly  to  judge  of  the  educational  and 
spiritual  wants  of  Japanese  proselytes  by  his 
own  highly  privileged  case!  Here  Mr.  Tsunera 
338 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

was  far  ahead  of  Mr.  Nihohe.  Mr.  Tsunera  had 
the  gift  (it  almost  amounts  to  that),  very  useful 
to  a  missionary,  of  placing  himself  in  the  mental 
condition  of  a  heathen  and  then  dealing  with  the 
natives  somewhat  from  their  own  blank  and  ob- 
scure standpoint.  This  gift  seems  to  be  totally 
lacking  in  Mr.  Nihohe.  And  then  out  of  the 
forty  millions  of  this  nation,  Mr.  Nihohe  knows 
only  one  man,  a  superior  specimen,  Mr.  Tochiri 
— and  him  he  does  not  know  thoroughly.  To 
judge  of  all  Japanese  converts  by  a  man  like  Mr, 
Tochiri  is  foolish  and  can  only  lead  to  the  most 
mistaken  conclusions. 

A  highly  privileged  person  like  Mr.  Nihohe, 
the  son  of  a  godly  minister,  brought  up  in  a 
pious  family,  educated  in  one  of  the  foremost 
colleges  in  America,  graduated  from  a  celebrated 
theological  seminary,  ordained  to  the  ministry, 
proficient  in  teaching  and  preaching,  may  well 
say  for  himself:  "I  don't  take  much  stock  in 
Creeds."  But  when  he  goes  on  to  infer  that 
therefore  Creeds  are  equally  dispensable  to  Japa- 
nese converts,  most  of  them  pretty  full  yet  of  all 
kinds  of  heathen  notions,  having  as  yet  a  very 
limited  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  impatient 
of  all  mental  and  moral  restraint  or  discipline, 
even  in  church  matters,  fond  of  a  loose  happy- 
go-lucky  sort  of  way,— THIS  is,  according  to  my 
experience,  the  height  of  injudiciousness  and 
very  bad  logic  withal. 

The  fluent  reader  may  laugh  at  spelling-books; 
the  advanced  mathematician  may  speak  scorn- 

339 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

fully  of  the  multiplication-table;  the  clever  au- 
thor and  orator  may  well  dispense  with  common 
school  grammars,  a  native  or  old  resident  of 
New  York  has  no  need  of  a  map  to  find  his  way, 
and  he  who  plays  Beethoven  and  Gounod's  music 
may  well  poke  fun  at  piano  instruction  books. 
So  likewise  Mr.  Nihohe,  if  he  feels  in  the  mood 
of  it,  may  say:  ''Creeds  are  of  no  use  to  me." 
But  when  he  further  reasons  that  because  he  can 
do  very  well  without  fully  detailed  church  stand- 
ards, therefore  Japanese  neophytes  can  do  so  too, 
he  makes  a  most  egregious  blunder! 

Dr.  Verbeck  spent  many  months  with  his  fel- 
low church-builders  upon  the  constitution  of  the 
Union  Church  in  Japan,  giving  much  time  also 
to  preaching  tours  in  various  parts  of  the  empire. 
In  one  of  these  tours  he  traversed  the  ultramon- 
taine  region  of  Buddhism  on  the  west  coast, 
his  itinerary  passing  through  Fukui  in  Echizen. 
Vastly  changed  from  the  romantic  picturesque 
capital  of  a  feudal  principality,  it  is  now  the 
centre  of  the  new  habutai  or  light  silk  in- 
dustry. 

Again  in  1893,  he  found  the  need  of  surcease 
from  exhausting  labors.  Crossing  the  Pacific,  he 
wrote  from  Alameda,  Cal.,  August  18,  1893: 

"I  was  glad,  how  glad  I  cannot  say,  at  last  to 
be  with  wife  and  children  once  more  and  have 
enjoyed  myself  exceedingly  since  my  arrival. 
And  yet,  strange  to  say,  there  are  a  few  things  I 
seem  to  miss  here.  Chief  among  these  is  the 
moisture  and  consequent  verdure  of  Japan.   Here, 

340 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

at  this  season,  all  is  draught  and  dust,  and  what 
to  me  is  real  cold.  At  night  the  thermometer 
down  to  50°  and  in  the  daytime  seldom  over 
70°." 

We  find  him  back  at  work  again,  writing  from 
Tokio,  November  13,  1893.  His  letter  shows  that 
the  Japanese,  passing  through  their  over-con- 
scious period  of  unripeness,  Chauvinism,  and 
self-conceit,  were  extremely,  even  ridiculously, 
sensitive  to  criticism.  The  Japanese  never  deco- 
rate their  critics  who  criticise  publicly.  None 
more  than  the  thoroughly  genuine  Japanese,  who 
love  truth  and  righteousness,  even  more  than 
wealth,  offices,  honors,  or  decorations  laugh  at 
this  over-sensitiveness  of  their  countrymen.  It 
vividly  reminds  Americans  also  of  our  own 
"green  apple"  stage,  when  our  grandfathers 
and  grandmothers  took  the  criticisms  of  trans- 
Atlantic  travellers  and  book-makers  so  very  pain- 
fully. 

Dr.  Verbeck  wrote: 

"Although,  of  course,  in  many  respects  I 
regret  not  having  been  able  to  see  the  Columbian 
Fair, — this  regret  I  share  with  tens  of  thousands, 
—yet  if  I  had  been  present  at  the  'Parliament,' 
I  can  now  see  that  I  should  have  been  much 
embarrassed.  The  difficulty  that  would  have 
beset  me  there  is  one  that  sufficiently  troubles 
and  hampers  all  of  us  here  in  our  regular  work. 
It  lies  in  the  fact  that  one  cannot  freely  and 
frankly  express  one's  real  opinion  in  public  about 
the  Japanese  without  giving  offence  to  them,  and 
341 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

without  more  or  less  impairing  one's  usefulness 
among  them.  Everything  said  as  well  as  writ- 
ten, about  the  Japanese  in  Europe  or  America, 
is  sure  to  come  back  here  in  print.  Under  these 
circumstances  it  would  have  been  very  hazardous 
to  correct  or  contradict  in  public  the  many  mis- 
taken and  some  utterly  false  statements  made  at 
the  'Parliament';  whereas,  on  the  other  hand, 
silence  might  and  probably  would  have  been  con- 
strued as  assent  or  approval.  All  this  I  escaped 
by  not  being  present." 

None  of  the  glib  statements  of  elegantly- 
dressed  Japanese  gentlemen,  or  priests  in  pictur- 
esque garb  at  Chicago  or  elsewhere,  could  blind 
this  profound  student  of  human  nature  as  to  the 
reality  of  morals  and  religion  in  Japan,  and  as  to 
their  need  of  repentance,  faith,  and  a  righteous- 
ness exceeding  that  even  of  "  living  Buddhas  " 
and  Shinto  gods,  and  "divinely  descended" 
rulers.    Of  the  general  situation  he  wrote: 

''While  there  is  not  a  little  to  regret  in  the 
present  state  of  the  Japanese  churches,  there  is  a 
good  deal  of  activity  shown  just  now.  The 
autumn  is  always  a  good  time  for  holding  all 
kinds  of  meetings;  but  this  fall  there  is  an 
unusual  number  of  so-called  series  of  preaching 
and  Christian  lecture  meetings  in  all  the  denomi- 
nations in  Tokio.  Some  of  these  are  held  every 
night  for  a  week  together,  others  for  three  or 
four  nights,  and  so  forth.  Usually  one  foreigner 
and  two  Japanese  speak  at  these  meetings.  I 
have  attended  a  few,  and  last  Saturday  a  church 

342 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

dedication,  and  am  sure  that  the  Divine  blessing 
attended  us." 

Of  the  less  felicitous  phases  of  church  life  and 
growth,  and  of  the  personal  peculiarities  of  mis- 
sionary men  and  women,  we  need  not  here 
speak,  except  to  say  that  Dr.  Verbeck's  experi- 
ence of  them  led  him  to  formulate  the  following, 
which  I  find  among  his  papers: 

THE  SCIENCE  OF  MISSIONS 

The  Science  of  Missions  is  (should  be),  based 
upon  the  Holy  Scriptures,  church  history,  mission 
practice,  and  human  nature  (?) 

MISSIONARY  CODE 

(Based  upon  the  Science  of  Missions) 

1.  A  mission  in  the  foreign  field  should  be,  as 
nearly  as  possible,  a  homogeneous  body,  and 
should,  in  all  matters  of  missionary  policy  and 
methods,  as  well  as  of  doctrine,  act  as  one  body 
and  in  perfect  harmony. 

("United  we  stand,  divided  we  fall."  '* Een- 
dracht  maakt  macht."  "  Every  kingdom  divided 
against  itself  is  brought  to  desolation,  and  every 
city  or  house  divided  against  itself  shall  not 
stand."  Numerous  and  calamitous  difficulties 
have  arisen  between  the  native  church  and  mis- 
sions solely  on  account  of  a  want  of  unanimity  in 
some  or  another  of  the  missions.) 

2.  In  order  to  this  end,  the  Home  Boards 
should  ascertain  of  every  applicant  or  candidate 
for  the  foreign  field,  whether  he  is  disposed  at 

343 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

all  time  to  submit  to  a  majority  of  the  mission  to 
which  he  is  to  be  sent,  on  all  questions  of  mis- 
sion policy,  methods  and  work,  and  whether  he 
is  resolved  to  teach  and  preach  nothing  at  variance 
or  in  conflict  with  the  standards  of  the  Church 
which  commissions  him. 

3.  All  matters  that  cannot  be  satisfactorily 
arranged  or  settled  by  the  mission  in  the  field, 
shall  be  referred  and  submitted  to  the  Home 
Board  for  its  assent  or  decision. 

4.  In  all  cases  where  a  missionary  shall  feel 
himself  wronged  or  aggrieved  by  the  action  or 
decision  of  his  mission,  he  shall  have  the  right  of 
appealing  (with  the  knowledge  of  his  mission), 
to  the  Home  Board,  in  reference  to  the  matter  in 
question. 

On  the  subject  of  the  necessity  of  creeds  and 
confessions  of  faith,  Dr.  Verbeck's  convictions 
were  strong.     He  wrote  in  1898: 

**  My  opinion  on  this  point  is  that,  in  a  com- 
munity or  nation  generally  and  from  of  old 
permeated  by  Christianity  and  full  of  Churches, 
the  Bible  alone  might  perhaps  be  safely  made  a 
Church's  sole  rule  of  faith  and  life.  But  on 
heathen  soil  to  endeavor  to  organize  and  build  up 
with  safety  a  Christian  church  without,  or  next 
to  without,  binding  church  symbols,  seems  to  me 
about  as  wise  and  feasible  a  proceeding,  as  for  a 
mariner  to  undertake  to  cross  the  Pacific  ocean 
with  a  valuable  cargo  and  a  hundred  human 
lives  in  his  charge,  and  safely  to  enter  the  Golden 
Gate  without  compass,  chart  and  nautical  almanac, 
344 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

— simply  by  the  guidance  of  'that  marvellous 
curtain  of  blue  and  gold,'  the  starry  heaven  over- 
head!" 

On  July  23,  1894,  he  again  surveys  the  situ- 
ation. 

*'The  general  results  of  the  recent  meetings  of 
the  Dai-Kwai  [General  Synod],  as  well  as  of  the 
Council  of  the  Cooperating  Missions,  you  have 
been  informed  of  by  the  usual  channels.  As 
regards  the  so-called  'Plan,'  it  was  more  than 
once  loudly  called  for  in  the  Council,  but  it  never 
came  under  serious  discussion.  Of  this  I  was 
glad,  because  there  was  no  occasion  for  its  being 
introduced  at  this  time.  The  '  Plan '  has  already 
done  much  of  its  intended  work  indirectly  and 
silently.  When  first  gotten  up,  it  was  not  done 
'  in  a  corner ' ;  it  was  widely  distributed  among 
the  foreign  missionaries  and  the  native  pastors  of 
all  denominations,  especially  of  the  Congre- 
gationalists.  The  comparatively  happy  tone  that 
prevailed  at  the  last  General  Conference  of  the 
Kumi-ai  Church,  the  three  resolutions  above 
referred  to,  and  much  of  the  action  at  the  recent 
meetings  of  Dai-Kwai  and  Council  are  all  more 
or  less  traceable  to  the  '  Plan.'  By  means  of  the 
'Plan,'  the  eyes  of  those  hot-headed  brethren 
who  used  to  talk  of  sending  home  the  mission- 
aries as  no  more  needed,  were  unexpectedly 
opened.  They  now  saw  what  had  never  oc- 
curred to  them  before, — namely,  that  if  they  car- 
ried things  beyond  all  reason  and  endurance,  the 
despised  foreign  missionaries  might  themselves 

345 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

solve  the  difficulty  in  a  very  practical  though  un- 
looked  for  way. 

"  But  I  must  stop  this,  for  I  find  myself  drift- 
ing into  matter  that  should  not  be  touched  upon 
without  time  and  space  to  substantiate  it,  and 
this  would  lead  me  back  to  my  rejected  sixteen 
pages  of  foolscap." 

Two  or  three  more  quotations  from  Dr.  Ver- 
beck's  letters,  showing  his  evangelistic  zeal  must 
close  this  "  record  of  foundation  work,"  and  then 
shall  be  told  the  story  of  his  last  days  on  earth. 

Under  date  of  June  4,  1895,  he  wrote: 

"As  doubtless  you  have  heard  ere  this,  Mr. 
Ballagh  left  Yokohama  for  a  home  furlough  on 
the  17th  May.  At  a  regular  meeting  sometime 
previous  to  his  departure,  the  mission  agreed  that 
I  should,  during  his  absence,  take  the  charge  and 
oversight  of  his  evangelistic  work  in  the  country 
districts.  The  main  part  of  this  work  lies  in  the 
province  of  Shinshu,  where  there  are  six  stations, 
each  of  which  is  occupied  by  a  Japanese  evangel- 
ist. Each  of  these  stations  has  its  out-stations 
worked  from  the  centre  to  which  they  belong. 
Three  of  the  six  stations  (Komoro,  Uyeda,  and 
Nagano)  lie  on  a  railroad  line  and  are  accessible 
from  Tokio  at  small  expense.  The  other  three 
stations,  situated  from  thirty  to  forty  miles  south 
of  the  railroad  line,  are  reached  by  pretty  rough 
roads  and  mountain  passes.  The  whole  of  the 
Shinshu  field  is  geographically  well  defined,  but 
capable  of  considerable  extension  within  its  own 
limits. 

346 


A  Man  Without  a  Country 

"The  other  parts  of  our  country  work  lie 
scattered  in  various  directions.  A  couple  of  sta- 
tions across  the  bay,  opposite  Yokohama;  some 
around  the  base  of  Mt.  Fuji;  a  few  more  near 
Yokohama;  and  one  station  (Seto)  a  dozen  miles 
from  Nagoya,  make  up  the  list. 

"At  Uyeda  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Miss 
Brokaw  and  Miss  Deyo,  whom  I  found  toiling 
away  zealously  at  their  promising  work  among 
the  women  of  this  town  and  neighborhood. 

"  Silk  culture,  like  time  and  tide,  waits  for  no 
man.  Shinshu  is  one  of  Japan's  chief  silk  dis- 
tricts, and  its  people  are  exceedingly  busy  at  cer- 
tain seasons  and  almost  quite  disengaged  at 
others.  Hence  we  have  to  conform  the  times  of 
our  work  here  to  this  state  of  things.  At  the 
next  propitious  season,  I  hope  to  do  some  good 
work  at  all  of  the  stations  in  a  less  hurried  way 
than  I  was  obliged  to  follow  on  this  tour.  I  was 
absent  from  home  just  a  fortnight  and  preached 
nine  or  ten  times.  May  this  labor,  light  and  easy 
though  it  be,  be  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 


347 


XVII 

"WEARY  WITH  THE  MARCH  OF  LIFE" 

Dr.  Verbeck  aged  visibly  during  the  last  year 
of  his  life.  He  had  lived  out  two-thirds  of  a 
century,  years  of  intense  activity.  From  the 
first,  his  constitution  had  been  none  of  the 
strongest;  and  his  wonderful  life  is  another  proof 
of  the  fact  that  what  one  accomplishes  depends 
more  on  temperance  and  intelligent  care  of  the 
health  than  on  natural  vigor. 

In  October,  1897,  the  physician  forbade  evan- 
gelistic tours,  and  it  was  a  great  disappointment 
to  the  doctor  that  he  dared  not  undertake  a  pro- 
posed trip  to  Kiushiu.  The  day  after  Christmas 
a  complication  of  chronic  ailments  prostrated 
him,  and  from  that  time  on  he  was  never  quite 
himself.  Gradually,  however,  he  seemed  to  im- 
prove; only  there  were  new  pains  in  the  chest 
that  were  supposed  to  be  caused  by  indigestion. 
He  was  seized  with  terrible  paroxysms  at  times, 
but  would  not  go  to  bed  and  took  his  regular  ex- 
ercise whenever  possible.  In  Tokio  he  still  con- 
tinued to  preach,  the  last  time  on  the  night  of 
February  26th. 

One  of  the  last  works  upon  which  Dr.  Ver- 
beck was  engaged  was  the  preparation  of  an  ad- 
dress in  English  to  the  emperor  of  Japan,  on  the 

*348 


"Weary  with  the  March  of  Life" 

occasion  of  the  presentation  of  a  handsome  copy 
of  the  Bible  in  Japanese,  the  result  of  many  years 
of  the  united  labors  of  Verbeck,  Hepburn,  Fyson 
and  many  others. 

The  other  work,  which  filled  heart  and  hand 
within  a  few  hours  of  his  call  to  higher  service, 
was  his  reply  to  the  fourteen  questions  submitted 
in  writing  to  him,  by  Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer,  on 
the  present  state  of  Christianity  in  Japan. 

In  this  paper,  one  of  the  last  of  his  utterances, 
this  unflattering  truth-teller,  ever  loving  and  kind, 
gives  his  impressions  of  the  Japanese  man,  utter- 
ing his  faith  also  in  the  coming  better  man  of 
Japan,  "  created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Probably  one  of  the  last,  if  not  the  very  last  of 
his  letters,  is  the  following: 

"  Tohio,  }  Aoi'Cho,  Feb.  24,  1898. 
'*  Dear  Dr.  Cobb: 

"I  am  exceedingly  obliged  to  you  for  your 
very  kind  assurances  of  sympathy  with  me  in 
my  poor  state  of  health.  Never  having  been  sick 
in  bed  for  a  week  together  during  thirty-five 
years  in  this  country,  I  may  be  somewhat  over- 
cowardly  in  being  now  seriously  'under  the 
weather ' ;  at  all  events,  I  probably  feel  it  more 
than  those  who  are  more  frequently  ailing.  At 
the  bottom  of  my  ailments  is  hypertrophy  of  the 
prostatic  gland,  consequently  impending  inflam- 
mation of  the  bladder  and  the  like.  I  think  that 
I  should  be  for  at  least  some  months  under  a 
specialist  or  in  a  sanitarium, — very  much  as  a 
349 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

watch  out  of  order  is  put  in  the  hands  of  a  watch- 
maker. But  this  is  difficult  to  carry  into  effect 
here. 

"  For  two  things  I  am  particularly  thankful.  I 
never  suffer  from  headache.  If  I  did,  this  would 
be  likely  to  knock  me  up  sooner  than  almost  any 
other  common  ailment.  My  head  is  in  good  and 
clear  condition.  And  the  other  good  thing  is  that 
warm  weather  is  coming  near.  This  last  winter 
I  have  suffered  more  from  the  cold  than  in  any 
former  year  that  I  remember.  I  am  already  bene- 
fited by  the  somewhat  milder  air  of  these  last 
weeks.  In  fact,  I  feel  I  am  now  able  to  lay  out 
plans  for  some  near  country  work.  The  fresh 
air  and  exercise  on  country  touring  always  bene- 
fit me  much.  And  a  little  later  I  hope  to  be 
blessed  with  strength  enough  to  respond  to  two 
calls  to  more  distant  fields :  Kochi  and  our  large 
field  in  Kiushiu.  These  two  calls  came  to  me 
within  the  last  ten  days.  And  then  there  is  our 
own  Shinshiu  field  which  is  never  off  my  mind. 

"As  to  requesting  Mr.  Speer  to  keep  my  an- 
swers to  his  fourteen  questions  'private,'  it  was 
and  is  almost  a  necessity.  If  some  of  the  things 
in  these  answers  were  to  be  quoted  in  print  and 
under  my  name,  it  would  draw  upon  me  a  host 
of  foes.  Christian  as  well  as  non-Christian.  I 
suppose  you  have  seen  my  old  friend  Dr.  Martin's 
book  on  China  (A  Cycle  of  Cathay)  ?  If  a  man 
should  undertake  to  write  a  similar  book  on  Japan 
and  the  Japanese,  with  but  one-tenth,  nay,  one- 
twentieth,  of  its  critical  and  personal  reflections 

350 


"Weary  with  the  March  of  Life" 

in  it,  he  had  better  not  think  of  ever  coming 
again  to  this  country.  It  might  not  be  safe  to  do 
so. 

*' As  regards  writing  on  the  inner  history  of  the 
work  of  missions  in  Japan  from  the  beginning, 
the  difficulty  is  that  it  cannot  well  be  done  with- 
out becoming  more  or  less  "personal."  But  I 
shall  bear  your  kind  suggestion  in  mind,  es- 
pecially if  I  should  be  still  further  laid  up  at  home. 

"One  important  episode  in  the  history  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  (viz,  the  '  proofs '  I  referred  to 
in  my  fourteen  answers)  I  have  ready  and  all 
typewritten  to  be  sent  off.  But  since  .  .  . 
figures  as  the  chief  agent  in  it,  I  should  have  to 
let  him  see  it  before  sending  off,  so  as  to  enable 
him  to  defend  his  peculiar  position  in  this  matter, 
if  he  should  deem  it  fit  to  do  so.  I  could  not  do 
such  a  thing  behind  a  man's  back. 

"By  this  same  mail  I  send  a  letter  to  Mr.  Speer. 
I  requested  him  to  let  you  see  it  *  as  opportunity 
serves,'  because  there  are  some  things  in  that 
letter  I  should  like  you  to  know. 

"  Once  more  thanking  you  for  your  friendly 
sympathy,  I  remain, 

"Sincerely  yours, 

"G.  F.  Verbeck." 

"  Please  to  give  my  kindest  regards  to  Dr. 
Amerman." 

The  machinery  of  physical  life  seemed  to  wear 
out  very  rapidly  as  the  spring  of  1898  approached, 
the  heart  and  kidneys  being  especially  weak. 

351 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

On  the  27th  of  February,  with  his  daughter 
Emma,  who  for  months  had  been  his  ministering 
angel,  he  was  able  to  take  a  long  ramble  of  about 
six  miles.  He  went  to  Yokohama  on  the  3d  of 
March  to  arrange  with  Mr.  Ballagh  a  preaching 
tour  in  Idzu.  On  March  6th,  the  walk  together 
of  father  and  daughter  was  very  short,  and  it  was 
his  last.  On  the  9th  he  sat  up  to  dinner  and 
played  a  game  of  chess  with  his  daughter.  He 
had  marked  ahead,  in  his  diary,  under  date  of 
Friday,  March  i8th,  *'  Yoko.  Lit.  Soc.  Personal 
Reminiscences,"  and  was  to  have  given  this 
lecture  in  English  before  the  ladies  and  gentle- 
men of  the  great  seaport.  How  they  would 
have  so  enjoyed  hearing  about  a  Japan  now 
utterly  vanished  and  a  part  of  very  ancient  his- 
tory. 

It  was  not  to  be.  At  noon  on  the  tenth,  sitting 
in  his  study  chair,  attended  by  his  body  servant, 
he  was  just  about  to  eat  his  usual  light  **tiffm" 
or  noon  meal,  when  the  call  to  change  worlds 
came  and  the  machinery  of  life  stopped.  Ver- 
beck of  Japan  was  dead. 

Of  the  last  offices  of  affection,  of  "dust  to 
dust,"  none  has  written  so  vividly  as  the  Rev. 
James  H.  Ballagh,  so  long  friend  and  fellow- 
worker. 

**The  death  of  our  dear  brother  was  as  simple 
and  as  beautiful  as  his  life.  The  weakness  of 
the  past  few  months  developed  some  angina 
pectoris  and  his  medical  advisers  counselled  care 
and  freedom  from  exposure.    Growing  restless 

352 


"Weary  with  the  March  of  Life" 

to  be  again  in  the  work  of  visiting  the  field,  he 
came  to  me  a  week  ago  to-day,  with  a  little  map 
carefully  made,  seeking  light  on  the  Idzu  field, 
which  he  was  desirous  of  visiting  to  make  trial 
of  strength  for  larger  undertakings.  In  my  study 
he  met  Dr.  Fest,  whose  name  he  had  down  on 
his  list  for  the  purpose  of  consultation,  if  occa- 
sion offered.  He  narrated  how  that  in  coming  up 
the  bluff  he  had  to  stop  several  times  owing  to 
the  sharp  pain  he  felt  in  the  region  of  his  heart. 
He  alluded  to  the  fact  that  Dr.  Brown  died  of 
that  disease.  Little  did  he  or  any  of  us  think 
this  was  to  be  our  last  conference  in  the  flesh, 
and  a  week  later,  at  about  the  same  hour,  his 
body  would  be  borne  by  devout  men  to  his  burial- 
place  in  Awoyama. 

*  *  All  this  occurred  on  the  26th  anniversary  of  the 
organization  of  the  Kaigan  Church  [The  First 
Reformed  Church  organized  in  Japan,  the  edifice 
standing  on  Commodore  Perry's  treaty  ground] 
when  two  important  and  largely  attended  meet- 
ings were  in  progress,  one  in  p.  m.  in  Van 
Schaick  Hall,  and  the  other  at  night  in  the  Kaigan 
Church.  Both  full,  if  not  crowded,  with  most 
blessed  signs  following. 

"It  was  so  sudden,  and  now  that  the  inter- 
ment and  all  is  over,  it  appears  more  like  a  dream 
than  a  reality.  We  will  come  to  realize  our  loss 
at  our  regular  meetings,  and  in  all  counsels 
concerning  mission  work  and  in  the  more 
general  inter-relations  of  all  the  missions,  at  which 
times  he  was  looked  upon  as  the  Guiding  Au- 
353 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

thority.  That  is  well  illustrated  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  last  Karuizawa  Council  Conference 
where,  although  he  took  hardly  an  observable 
part,  his  counsels  are  fully  reflected  in  the 
council's  action  on  cooperation  of  missions  with 
the  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan,  and  are  so  faith- 
fully reflected  in  Mr.  Speer's  report ;  a  report  I 
think  that  gave  Dr.  Verbeck  more  complete  satis- 
faction than  anything  of  the  kind  yet  written." 

Much  of  the  preparation  for  the  funeral  and 
memorial  services  at  the  Shiba  Church  devolved 
upon  Mr.  Ballagh,  who  went  at  once  to  Tokio  on 
receipt  of  the  telegram  announcing  the  sad  news  : 

**Miss  Verbeck  I  found  very  composed  and  re- 
ceiving Japanese  and  all  visitors,  and  attending 
to  a  host  of  calls  regarding  invitation  to  officials 
and  friends  of  the  Doctor.  Some  one  or  two 
hundred  such  were  sent  out.  In  consequence 
we  had  to  request  the  schools,  and  *  bodies  of 
people '  not  to  come,  inasmuch  as  a  large  foreign 
audience  would  gather  together  who  could  not 
be  refused. 

"  Notice  had  been  given  to  the  foreign  communi- 
ties of  'No  flowers,'  but  still  a  number  of  most 
beautiful  wreaths  and  palm  branches  were  sent 
in.  These  added  much  to  the  beauty  of  the 
casket  and  hearse  en  route  to  the  Shiba  Church, 
and  to  the  cemetery  at  Awoyama.  There  were 
several  carriages  kindly  furnished  by  friends. 
Bishop  McKim  taking  Miss  Verbeck  and  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  Wolfe,  Dr.  Verbeck's  cousins — whose 
presence  was  a  great  comfort  to  Miss  Verbeck 
354 


"Weary  with  the  March  of  Life" 

and  assistance  in  many  ways.  One  thing  of  im- 
portance was  the  bearing  of  the  Imperial  Order 
of  the  Third  Class,  on  a  velvet  cushion.  This 
was  placed  on  the  casket  in  the  church,  and  in 
consequence  of  the  deceased  being  a  decorated 
man,  a  company  of  soldiers  escorted  the  body 
two  whole  miles  to  the  cemetery  and  afterward 
saluted  the  grave  with  presentation  of  arms,  etc. 
"  The  church  was  filled  below  with  officials  and 
foreigners,  or  invited  Japanese  guests,  and  the 
galleries  with  ministers,  workers,  and  a  women's 
side  with  Bible  women.  Rev.  Wada,  the  pas- 
tor, read  the  ninetieth  Psalm  in  Japanese,  and 
was  followed  by  prayer  in  English,  by  Dr.  David 
Thompson.  It  was  inspired  with  reverence, 
awe,  faith,  and  hope.  It  was  most  helpful.  A 
Japanese  hymn,  tune  Ward,  a  version  of  the 
forty-sixth  Psalm  followed,  and  then  the  address 
in  Japanese  by  President  Ibuka.  The  latter  was 
strong,  succinct,  and  satisfactory ;  giving  all  the 
main  facts  of  his  life.  I  followed  in  English, 
with  a  short  appeal  in  Japanese  at  its  close  to  the 
Japanese  to  follow  him  as  he  followed  Christ. 
Then  Father  Okuno  ^  poured  out  one  of  his  touch- 
ing, sympathetic,  and  glowing  prayers.  The 
ninetieth  Psalm  '  Our  God,  our  help  in  ages  past, 
etc.,'  sung  in  English,  with  a  tribute  in  Japanese 
by  the  president  of  the  Japanese  Evangelical  Alli- 
ance,   Rev.    T.    Honda,   also    president    of    the 

>  One  of  the  earliest  converts,  a  fluent  and  forceful  preacher, 
poet  and  hymn  writer,  the  Nestor  of  the  Reformed  Church  in 
Japan. 

•»  355 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

Awoyama  College,  one  of  our  original  church 
members,  read  in  solemn  tone,  together  with  the 
benediction  pronounced  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop 
McKim  brought  the  church  services  to  an  end. 

"The  master  of  ceremonies  of  the  Imperial 
Court  had  sent  a  representative,  Mr.  Yamada,  to 
attend  to  carrying  the  famous  decoration,  which 
was  laid  on  a  cushion  and  placed  on  the  casket 
during  the  services. 

"  The  procession  was  then  formed  and  wended 
its  way  to  the  cemetery,  two  miles  distant,  led 
by  a  company  of  infantry  marching  four  abreast 
with  arms  reversed. 

''At  the  grave.  Rev.  Mr.  Booth  read  impressively 
the  burial  service.  Rev.  Y.  Ogawa,  our  first  or- 
dained elder  and  minister  offered  prayer  in  Japa- 
nese. After  the  hymn,  'Asleep  in  Jesus,'  in 
Japanese,  the  benediction  was  pronounced  by 
the  Rev.  Hugh  Waddell  of  the  United  Presby- 
terian Scotch  Mission.  The  evening  was  grow- 
ing chilly  and  turning  away  in  sadness  and  yet 
in  a  sense  of  gladness  at  his  triumph  and  the 
great  mercies  of  God  experienced  this  day,  I 
reached  my  home  about  8  p.  m. 

"  I  found  the  rumor  of  500  yen  having  graciously 
been  given  by  His  Majesty,  the  Emperor,  was 
true.  It  came  per  master  of  ceremonies  of  the 
court,  Mr.  Sannomiya,  who  has  taken  so  lively 
and  fatherly  interest  in  Miss  Verbeck  in  all  this 
affliction.  The  day  I  first  visited  her,  he  was 
there,  kindly  advising  her  about  her  father's  dec- 
oration and  that  it  was  right  to  retain  it.    On  go- 

356 


Monument  of  Dr.  Verbeck,  erected  by  the  grateful  Japanese. 


"Weary  with  the  March  of  Life" 

ing  out  he  was  introduced  to  me,  and  said  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  *  1  am  so  sorry.'  I  replied, 
•Not  for  Dr.  Verbeck,  but  for  those  who  are 
left.'  I  am  informed  he  attended  the  services  at 
the  church,  though  I  did  not  observe  him. 

*'  I  felt  happy  to  have  had  two  short  prayers  over 
my  dear  brother's  body;  one  with  my  wife  and 
Mrs.  Wolfe  yesterday  ;  and  the  other  in  Japanese 
with  a  number  of  Japanese  brethren  ere  the  cover 
was  to  be  fastened  over  his  noble  and  peaceful 
form  forever,  nay!  till  lighted  up  at  the  resur- 
rection word. 

•'The  city  government  of  Tokio  sent  the  late 
Dr.  Verbeck's  family  a  receipt  for  a  perpetual 
lease  of  the  little  plot  in  which  he  lies  buried. 
Claimed  by  three  nations,  but  a  citizen  of  none, 
he  has  found  for  his  weary  body  a  final  resting- 
place  in  Japan;  and  Japan  has  not  failed  to  show 
due  appreciation  of  the  honor. 

"  Dr.  Whitney  and  others  propose  a  memorial 
service  for  Dr.  Verbeck  should  be  held,  owing  to 
the  fact  many  were  not  apprized  of  the  death, 
and  bodies  of  people  had  been  requested  not  to 
come  to  the  church  service.  It  is  therefore  truly 
necessary  to  give  an  opportunity  for  expression 
of  the  popular  and  Christian  grief.  Miss  Verbeck 
does  not  object  under  the  circumstances.  So  we 
propose  to  hold  it  Saturday  19th,  2  p.  m.  at  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  Hall,  Kanda,  Tokio.  It  is  possible 
Sir  Ernest  Satow  may  consent  to  preside  as  he  is 
an  excellent  Japanese  scholar,  and  that  would  be 
suitable  if  the  services  be  in  Japanese. 
357 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

"A  very  striking  fact  comes  with  peculiar  power 
to  me  now  in  connection  with  the  long  delayed 
presentation  of  the  copy  of  the  Bible  to  H.  M.  the 
emperor.  Dr.  Verbeck  at  the  request  of  the  Bible 
Societies'  committee  wrote  the  address  to  the  em- 
peror, and  it  has  been  beautifully  engrossed  in  Ger- 
man text  on  Vellum.  Now  it  strikes  me  it  will 
prove  a  most  welcome  and  prized  gift  by  H.  M. 
coming  from  one  so  honored  by  H.  M.  and  all  his 
people.  Is  not  this  a  fitting  sequel  to  a  life  so 
singular  in  humility  and  devotion  to  be  able  not 
only  to  disarm  prejudice  from  the  minds  of  the 
Government  of  Japan,  but  to  present  to  H.  M. 
a  copy  of  that  Blessed  Word  of  God  upon 
which  all  his  own  hopes  were  founded  for 
eternity  ? 

"Several  points  of  interest  not  dwelt  upon  in 
account  of  Dr.  Verbeck's  funeral  service  in  my 
notes  of  Saturday  night  may  now  be  added.  One 
is  that  the  seating  of  the  persons  invited  to  be 
present  was  very  successfully  accomplished  ow- 
ing to  the  Rev.  Thos.  McNair  of  the  Presbyterian 
Mission,  and  Mr.  Miller,  Secretary  of  the  United 
States  Legation,  having  kindly  consented  to  act 
as  ushers,  in  which  they  were  also  assisted  by  a 
Japanese  gentleman  of  the  Imperial  Household 
Department.  This  was  the  more  needful,  as 
several  high  officials  of  that  department  were  ex- 
pected to  be  present.  They  were  assigned  seats 
in  the  central  aisle  immediately  behind  the  fam- 
ily, as  the  next  chief  mourners.  The  representa- 
tives of  foreign  governments,  of  whom  several 

358 


"Weary  with  the  March  of  Life" 

were  present,  including  Hon.  Mr.  Buck,  United 
States  minister,  were  assigned  seats  in  the  same 
and  adjoining  aisle,  missionary  ladies  and  gentle- 
men also  filled  up  these  aisles.  The  pall-bearers, 
twelve  or  more  in  number,  comprised  represent- 
atives of  the  missions,  two  Hollanders,  and  a 
number  of  Japanese  gentlemen,  friends  of  the 
family,  one  of  whom  was  Barrister  Masujima, 
occupied  seats  at  the  right  of  the  pulpit,  and  the 
choir,  under  direction  of  Miss  Moulton,  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  pulpit. 

'*  The  intermixture,  or  alternation  of  Japanese 
and  English  in  the  service  was  a  happy  circum- 
stance. Indeed  nationality  faded  away  under  the 
solemnity  and  sublimity,  we  may  say,  of  the  uni- 
versality of  the  grief  at  the  loss  of  one  whom, 
without  a  distinct  right  of  citizenship,  three  coun- 
tries claimed  an  equal  interest  in  as  their  rep- 
resentative; and,  as  President  Ibuka  put  it,  if  to 
be  judged  by  time  of  residence,  and  extent  of 
labor  and  influence  he  was  more  of  a  Japanese  than 
an  American.  It  is  a  beautiful  exemplification 
of  the  lives  of  the  ancient  patriarchs  that  having 
the  promise  of  the  whole  land,  they  owned  nought 
in  it  save  a  burial-place,  because  his  true  citizen- 
ship was  in  heaven.  Another  circumstance, 
small  though  it  be,  was  happily  suggestive  of 
our  Heavenly  Father's  care  for  His  loved  ones- 
even  for  His  dear  son's  interment  with  suitable 
honors,  that  the  request  that  no  flowers  should  be 
sent,  which  went  forth  to  the  foreign  community, 
was  disregarded  by  the  Imperial  Household  de- 

359 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

partment,  for  the  half  dozen  or  more  of  beauti- 
ful wreaths  sent  by  the  Kunaisho  added  much 
beauty  to  the  casket  and  decorated  the  hearse 
during  the  procession.  They  seemed  too  beau- 
tiful to  be  left  upon  the  tomb  to  perish  under  the 
snow  mantle  and  the  storm  that  has  since  fallen 
upon  them.  Nor  is  this  all  the  kindness,  His  Im- 
perial Japanese  Majesty's  Government  has  shown, 
for  an  intimation  that  a  largess  of  five  hundred 
yen  were  sent  to  Miss  Verbeck,  to  defray  her  rev- 
erend father's  funeral  expenses,  has  reached  us. 
If  this  be  so,  or  not,  it  is  evident  the  Japanese 
rulers  and  their  people  are  susceptible  of  the 
highest  and  kindest  sentiments  of  gratitude  and 
sympathy  toward  any  whom  they  can  love  and 
respect." 

As  the  fitting  conclusion  of  our  story  of  Ver- 
beck of  Japan,  we  reproduce  some  of  the  tributes 
of  the  native  Japanese  press,  both  secular  and 
Buddhist,  as  translated  for  The  Japan  Evangelist, 
with  a  word  or  two  from  those  who  knew  him 
best. 

The  first  is  from  the  Yorod^u  Cho  published  in 
Tokio. 

"Brown,  Hepburn,  Verbeck— these  are  the 
three  names  which  shall  ever  be  remembered  in 
connection  with  Japan's  new  civilization.  They 
were  young  men  of  twenty-five  or  thereabout, 
when  they  together  rode  into  the  harbor  of 
Nagasaki  early  in  1858.  The  first  said  he  would 
teach,  the  second  that  he  would  heal,  and  the 
third  that  he  would  preach.     Dr.  S.  R.  Brown 

360 


"Weary  with  the  March  of  Life" 

opened  a  school  at  Yokohama,  and  with  no  os- 
tentation of  a  Doshisha,  he  quietly  applied 
himself  to  his  work  until  he  died.  Such  eminent 
men  as  Mr.  Shimada  Saburo,  Revs.  Uyemura, 
Oshikawa  and  Honda,  are  the  fruits  of  his  labor. 
Dr.  Hepburn  healed  ;  famous  Mr.  Kishida  Ginko 
made  his  name  and  fortune  through  him  ;  while 
the  Doctor's  dictionary  will  ever  remain  as  a 
monument  of  patient  philological  work,  not  to  be 
surpassed  for  many  years  to  come.  The  two 
of  the  devoted  triumvirate  have  joined  the  '  choir 
invisible'  now  for  several  years. ^  The  third  has 
now  passed  away,  full  of  honors  and  good 
works.  All  three  by  their  silent  labors  have  left 
Japan  better  than  they  had  found  it. 

"Forty  years  of  continued,  unstinted  service 
for  the  people  not  of  one's  own  race  and  nation! 
Let  our  readers  think  of  it.  Is  there  any  one  of 
our  countrymen  who  is  thus  spending  and  being 
spent  for  our  immediate  neighbors,  the  Koreans  ? 
Forty  years  of  continued  unostentatious  work, 
not  to  get  money,  or  praise,  but  with  an  aim 
known  only  to  himself  and  his  Maker!  Apart 
from  the  doctrines  he  came  here  to  preach,  there 
was  a  sustained  energy  in  the  man  such  that  we 
might  well  envy  and  seek  to  possess.  Perhaps 
he  had  in  him  the  Dutch  doggedness  of  his  native 
land.  But  the  joy,  the  contentedness,  the  sweet 
submission  in  his  work  seemed  to  imply  some 
other  source  of  strength  not  wholly  explicable  by 
physics  and  physiology." 

1  Dr.  J.  C.  Hepburn  is  still  (Oct.  I,  1900)  living. 
361 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

The  Kokumin  no  Tomo  [The  Nation's  Friend] 
said  : 
/  "By  the  death  of  Doctor  Verbeck,  the  Japanese 
people  have  lost  a  benefactor,  teacher,  and  friend. 
He  was  born  in  Holland,  was  educated  in  Amer- 
ica, and  taught  in  Japan.  The  present  civilization 
of  Japan  owes  much  to  his  services.  Of  the  dis- 
tinguished statesmen  and  scholars  of  the  present, 
many  are  those  who  studied  under  his  guidance. 
That  during  his  forty  years'  residence  in  this  land 
he  could  witness  the  germ,  the  flower,  and  the 
fruit  of  his  labor,  must  have  been  gratifying  to 
him.  It  should  be  remembered  by  our  people  that 
this  benefactor,  teacher,  and  friend  of  Japan 
prayed  for  the  welfare  of  this  empire  until  he 
\  breathed  his  last." 

Even  the  Buddhists  knew  who  was  the  friend 
of  Japan.  The  Han^ei  Zasshi  said : 
/  **Dr.  Verbeck  was  a  missionary,  who  came  to 
Japan  before  the  Meiji  Restoration,  and  rendered 
great  services  both  to  evangelization  and  educa- 
tion, through  the  long  course  of  over  thirty  years. 
The  doctor  is  surely  one  of  those  who  rejoice  in 
being  the  friends  of  Japan.  We  Buddhists  who 
have  no  conspicuous  success  in  foreign  mission- 
work  should  be  shamed  by  the  example  of  this 
V  venerable  missionary." 

Here  is  the  tribute  of  a  true  Christian  woman. 
Miss  Leila  Winn,  who,  in  the  Master's  name, 
toils  in  northern  Japan : 

"Though  for  many  years  a  member  of  the 
same  mission  with  Dr.  Verbeck,  I  never  felt  that 

362 


"Weary  with  the  March  of  Life" 

I  really  knew  him  until  the  autumn  of  1897,  when 
he  came  to  Aomori  to  give  us  a  ten  days'  series 
of  lectures  and  sermons.  The  first  thing  that 
impressed  me  was  what  a  student  he  was.  He 
never  preached  at  random.  One  could  see  at 
once  that  there  had  been  thorough  preparation 
beforehand.  He  called  the  little  park  at  Aomori 
his  'study  room.'  As  soon  as  breakfast  was 
over  he  would  go  off  to  the  park  and  not  be 
seen  again  till  noon.  After  dinner  he  did  the 
same  till  evening.  It  was  no  wonder  then  that, 
evening  after  evening,  he  held  his  audiences 
spellbound. 

''His  self-effacement  was  another  thing  that 
impressed  me.  A  compliment  seemed  to  give 
him  pain  rather  than  pleasure.  He  always 
changed  the  subject.  He  wanted  people  to  think 
of  Jesus  Christ,  not  about  himself. 

"Dr.  Verbeck  swayed  and  governed  those 
about  him  by  his  gentleness,  rather  than  by 
words  of  fault-finding  and  criticism.  His  visit 
here  made  me  wish  to  be  a  nobler,  better  woman, 
and  to  overcome  all  that  was  petty  and  belittle- 
ing  in  my  nature. 

"One  evening  after  one  of  his  lectures  I  re- 
member finding  my  Bible  woman  in  a  brown 
study.  When  I  asked  what  she  was  thinking 
about,  she  replied,  '  I  am  thinking  of  that  great 
man.  Dr.  Verbeck— and  to  think  that  after  all  he 
is  human  like  the  rest  of  us,  and  some  day  will 
die  and  be  buried  like  any  one  else.' 

"Neither  she  nor  I  realized  that  his  end  was  so 

363 


Verbeck  of  Japan 

near,— when  to  use  his  own  words,  he  would 
'go  home  to  heaven,  to  his  good  father  and 
mother.'" 

Among  the  many  notices  in  the  newspapers  of 
the  United  States,  we  reproduce  that  from  The 
Independent,  New  York: 
'  "  We  have  here  an  illustration  of  what  a  man 
of  strong  nature  and  fme  culture  can  do  when  he 
has  the  courage  to  use  his  concentrated  powers. 
Dr.  Verbeck  has  impressed  his  stamp  on  the 
whole  future  history  of  renovated  Japan.  The 
country  which  will  give  impulse  and  direction  to 
all  Eastern  Asia  will  feel  his  influence  and  will 
hold  his  name  in  reverence  through  all  the  cen- 
turies of  its  future  history.  This  plain,  modest, 
forceful,  learned,  devoted  missionary  will  be  re- 
membered as  are  St.  Augustine  in  England,  St. 
Patrick  in  Ireland,  and  Ulfilas,  the  missionary  to 
the  Goths.  The  race  of  Christian  heroes  does 
not  yet  fail,  nor  the  opportunity  to  serve  the 
^  world." 

Let  this  final  word  close  our  story : 
"When  all  is  said,  his  life  is  best  summed  up 
in  the  words:  'I  determined  not  to  know  any- 
thing among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him 
crucified.'  Untiring  consecration  to  his  Master's 
work  ruled  in  all  he  did.  His  first  pleasure  was 
preaching,  for  which  he  had  talents  that  would 
have  made  him  notable  in  any  land.  I  should 
say  that  his  chief  powers  were  the  graphic  vivid- 
ness with  which  he  could  portray  a  scene,  being 
richly  gifted  in  voice  and  gesture;  then  the  re- 

364 


"  Weary  with  the  March  of  Life " 

sistless  logic  with  which  he  forced  truth  home. 
His  sermons  abounded  in  illustrations,  and  were 
the  delight  of  Japanese  audiences.  Wherever  he 
went,  the  people  came  in  crowds  to  see  and  hear. 
"Without  him,  Japan  will  not  seem  like  itself. 
Because  of  him  Japan  will  grow  less  like  itself, 
and  more  like  the  kingdom  of  heaven," 


1^ 


365 


Ind 


ex 


Adams,  C.  F.,  247. 
Aidzu,  146,  147, 168, 194. 

Albany,  63. 
Alcock,  Mr.,  84. 

Aline,  49. 

Ambassadors,  155-258. 

Americanism,  173. 

Americans,  18,  24,  48,  50,  62, 
102,  112,  120,  146,  169,  172, 
173,  202,  211,  217,  219,  247, 
250,  270. 

Amerman,  Rev.  J,  L.,  351. 

Amsterdam,  29,  41. 

Anabaptists,  34. 

Anglo-Saxon,  28,  125. 

Annapolis,  168,  169;  243. 

Anjier,  66. 

Aomori,  363. 

Arkansas,  51,  228. 

Army,  202. 

Art,  176,  177,  178. 

Asaki,  199,  200,  255,  256. 

Asakusa,  235. 

Ashmore,  Rev.  Wm.,  66. 

Asia,  17,  28,  125,  267. 

Asiatics,  109. 

Atlantic  Ocean,  49,  233. 

Auburn,  49,  57,  58,  62-64. 

Awoki,  327. 

Awoyama,  65,  353,  354. 

Ayabe,  loi,  no,  124-128. 


Bacon,  Miss  Alice,  222. 

Baelz,  Dr.,  213. 

Bakufu,  53,  109,  no,  115,  143, 

146,  233. 
Ballagh,  Rev.  James,  65,  92,  94, 

165,  168,  218,  346,  352,  354. 
Bible,  22,  27,  103,  109, 126, 128, 

134,  189. 
Biwa,  Lake,  106. 
Blackstone,  187. 
Black  Tide,  244. 
Bluntschli,  46,  280. 
Board,  Episcopal,  61. 

"      American    and   Presby- 
terian, 172. 
Board,  Reformed   Church,  63, 

67,  92,  124,  191,  217. 
Bonin  Islands,  72. 
Bridgeman,  Rev.  C.  E.,  67. 
British,  107,  no,  115,  120,  134, 

142,  143,  164,  218,  270. 
Brown,  Rev.  S.  R.,  59,  62,  65, 

353»  361. 
Buck,  Hon,  Wm.,  359. 
Buddhas,  342. 
Buddhism,  252,  267. 
Buddhists,  23,  75,  133,  149, 165. 

184,  227. 


Calendar,  40. 

California,  184,  231,  289,  319. 


367 


Index 


Canton,  59,  67. 
Catechisms,  335,  337. 
Cayuga,  63,  64. 
Central  Japan,  271. 
Chamberlain,  Basil   Hall,   177, 

178,  312. 
China,  54,  59,   112,   113,   123, 

135,     211,     272,    273,     274, 

275- 
Chinese,   26,   54,  66,  83,   107, 

III,  128,  133,  143.  157.  173. 

i89»  i93.  I97>  203,  227,  233, 

242,  272. 
Choshiu,  50,  106-122,  139,  143- 

149,  197,  204. 
Christendom,  23,  34,  133,  149, 

223,  255,  258. 
Christianity,  20,  60,  61,  69,  70, 

102,  128,  136,  149,  174,  215, 

256,  264. 
Christmas,  45,  46. 
Church  of  Christ,  354. 
Chrysanthemum,  177. 
Cobb,  Rev.  Dr.,  349. 
Code,  Napoleon,  46,  204,  280. 
Condit,  Dr.,  63. 
Constitution,  125-279. 
Copy  of  Bible,  349. 
Comes,  Rev.  M.,  191,  220. 
Council  Kariuzawa,  354. 
•*       of  Missions,  345. 
"       of  State,  148,  150,  210. 
Creator,  176. 
Creeds,  336,  337. 
Cross-trampling,  129. 
Cur  tins,  Donker,  60. 
Cycle  of  Cathay,  350. 


Dai  Gaku  Nan  Ko,  230,  234. 

Dai  Jo  Kuan,  150,  282. 

Dai  Nippon,  22. 

Dai  Nihon  Shi,  180. 

Dairi,  267. 

Decoration  Day,  225. 

DeLong,  Hon.   Chas.  E.,  219, 

257. 
Delfshaven,  30. 
Delft,  30,  325, 
Department  of  Education,  222, 

252,  269. 
Deshima,    53,   60,    80,    87-9 1, 

no.  III,  180. 
Diet,  Imperial,  279. 
Dodge,  Wm.  E.,  58,  63,  256. 
Doremus,  Mrs.,  63,  256. 
Dutch,  29,  46-60,  73,  74,  87, 

112,  129,  130,  139,  157,  163, 

169,  180,  201,  210,  222,  223, 

233»  254. 
Dutchmen,  17,  139,  210. 

East,  22,  143,  144,  240. 
Eastern  Capital,  182-186,  194. 
Echizen,    107,     144-147,    170, 
171,  208,  214,  215,  218,  222, 

250,  253- 
Edicts,  Anti-Christian,  96, 
Eguchi  Baitei,  54. 
Emperor,  50. 
Empire  State,  64. 
England,  34,  50,  II9,  140,  161, 

175-268. 
English,  20, 42, 66, 108, 123, 124, 

133.  163,  175,  178,  189,  193, 

203,  204,  211,  214,  233,  251. 


368 


Index 


Enomoto,  195,  329,  330. 

Epidemics,  98. 

Europe,  52,  60,  144,  185,  188, 

213,  231,  232,  234. 
Europeans,  54,   119,   146,  163, 

246. 
Evil  Sect,  149. 

Ferris,  Isaac,  63. 

Ferris,  Rev.  John  M.,  154,  155, 

200,  213. 
Test,  Dr.,  353. 
Foreign  Languages,  School  of, 

220,  234. 
Formosa,  72,  271,  272,  274. 
Fort  Howard,  49. 
France,  11 5- 120. 
French,  44,  112,  132,  135,  162, 

193,  203,  204,  218,  233,  234. 
Fuji  Yama,  21,  27,  218,  250. 
Fukui,  171,  208,  214,  217,  250, 

252,  253. 
Fukuzawa,  194,  252,  311,  318. 
Fushimi,  152,  165,  181,  275. 

Gaskell,  Mrs.,  39. 
Ga  Kinosuke,  163,  168 
Genahr,  Rev.,  66. 
Gen  Ro  In,  277,  282. 
German,  39,  46,  59, 64, 66, 203, 

210,  211,  212,  23 
Germanic,  60,  136. 
Germany,  29,  41,  42,  234,  275. 
Gingko  Kishida,  361. 
Goble,  Rev.  Mr.,  163. 
Gojingahara,  230. 
Gokuraku,  167. 


Goto  Shojiro,  163,  170. 
Government,  Imperial,  50,  1 38, 

182-186. 
Green  Bay,  38,  48,  52,  55,  57. 
Greene,  Dr.  D.  C.,  252. 
Griffis,  Miss  M.  C,  222. 
Grotius,  Hugo,  151,  326. 
GutzlafF,  42,  142. 

Hague,  The,  177. 

Hakase,  26. 

Hakodate,  53. 

Hakone  Pass,  107,  194. 

Hale,  Rev.  E.  E.,  28. 

Harris,  Townsend,  77,  87,  92, 

104,  106. 
Hartley,  Mr.,  164. 
Haruko,  Empress,  195. 
Hasfegawa,  211. 
Hayashi,  321. 
Hebrev»r,  192. 
Helena,  Ark.,  51,  52. 
Hepburn,  Dr.  J.  €.,  87, 108, 208, 

360. 
Heusken,  92. 
Hideyoshi,  25,  59. 
Higo,  Daimio  of,  117,  212, 213, 

223. 
Hikone,  106. 
Hiogo,  158. 
Hirado,  60,  157. 
Hirozawa,  225. 
Historical  Summary,  233. 
Hitosubashi,  107,  143,  146,  230, 

245- 
Hizen,  59,  99,   124,  131,   132, 
152-160,  171,  175,  197. 


369 


Index 


Hoffman,  Dr.,  211,  218. 
Holland,  29,  43,  50,  115,  I20, 

149,  195,  223. 
Hollanders,  43,  53-55,  62,  210. 
Homiletics,  333. 
Hondo,  Rev.  T.,  356. 
Hongkong,  66. 
Hosokawa,  283. 
House,  Mr.  E.  H.,  289. 
Huguenots,  34. 

Ibuka,  359. 

Ichijo,  195, 

li.  Premier,  75,  105,  106. 

Indemnity,  122. 

Independent,  The,  364. 

Inland  Sea,  157. 

Inouye,  Count,  120. 

Iroquois,  U.  S.  S.  S.,  148. 

Ise,  Mr.,  124. 

Ishiguro,  Surgeon  General,  210. 

Island  Without  Death,  157. 

Ito,  Marquis,  120. 

Iwakura,    124,    132,    155,   156, 

195-2CX),  225,  227,  229,  256- 

261,  268-275,  305. 
Iwasa,  211. 
Iwasaki,  170. 
lyesada,  78. 
lyeyasu,  71,  72. 

Jamestown,  U.  S.  S.  S.,  121. 

January,  175,  193,  226. 

Japan,  16-28,  41,  53-61,  68-80, 
95,  104,  105,  1 13-138,  142- 
164,  171-190,  192,  197,  205, 
214,  217,  219,  242,  247,  257, 
263,  265. 


Japanese,  16-28,  52-65,  72-89, 
107,  111-130,  150-170,  175- 
183,  191,  197,  200,  211,  212, 
218,  229,  232,  233. 

Japan  Mail,  331. 

Java,  66. 

Jesuits,  16,  70. 

Kacho-no-MiyA,  213. 

Kaempfer,  1 10,  200. 

Kaga,  131. 

Kago,  X70. 

Kagoshima,  iii,  112,  226,  320. 

Kaibara,  26. 

Kaigan  Church,  353. 

Kai  Sei  Gakko,  236,  307. 

Kai  Sei  Jo,  230,  233. 

Kamakura,  237,  251. 

Kanagawa,  26,  67,  77,  83,  108, 

III,  114. 
Kantaro  Yanagiya,  131,  133. 
Katsu  Awa,  158,  168,  225. 
Kearsarge  U.  S.  S.  S.,  lai. 
Keiki,  26,  107. 
Kellerman,  33,  34. 
Kido,  151,  197,  225,  227. 
Kitasato,  Dr.,  96. 
Kioto,    72,  78,    1 06- 1 19,    138, 

144-149,  168,  181,  195,  224, 

225. 
Kiushiu,  29,  59,  117,  129,  131, 

I74»  302,  350- 
Kobe,  144,  152,  158. 
Kochi,  350. 
Koide,  151-157. 
Koji-Machi  Church,  297,  298. 
Komatsu,  139,  168,  169. 


370 


Index 


Komei,  Emperor,  144. 
Komoro,  Rev.,  302. 
Konishi,  73. 

Korea,  59,  73,  211,  274. 
Kubota,  128,  129. 
Kuge,  113. 

Kumi-Ai  Church,  345. 
Kunaisho,  360. 
Kusakabe,  173. 
Kuwana,  146,  147. 
Kyo-Bashi  Church,  298. 

Labouchere,  C,  31. 
Lanman,  Mr.  Chas.,  263. 
Lanrick,  121. 
Legation,  American,  III. 

"         British,  107,  1 10,  142, 

143. 
Liggins,  Rev.  J.,  81,  85. 
London,  iii,  165. 
Loomis,  Rev.  Henry,  310. 
Lowder,  Mr.,  164. 
Lucy,  Mr.  Alfred,  209. 

Macao,  142. 

Maclay,  Mr.  Arthur  G.,  105. 

Maksumura,  170. 

Malay,  162. 

Man-en,  89. 

Manion,  Miss  Maria,  59,  64. 

Marco  Polo,  69. 

Mason,  Mr.,  306. 

Matsudaira,  214. 

Mayeda,  257. 

McCartee,  Dr.  D.  K.,  323,  329. 

McDougal,  Capt.  David,  121. 

McKim,  Bishop,  356. 


Meiji  Period,  125. 

Mikado,  17,  106-123,  144,  148, 

150,  168,  170,  180,  194,  212, 

228. 
Mikado's  Empire,  219,  247,  252, 

425. 
Miller,  Rev.  Rothsay,  385,  305. 
Milne,  Mr.  John,  163. 
Minister  of  Education,  253. 
"      of    Religious     Affairs, 

265. 
Minister,  U.  S.,  163-170,  183, 

218. 
Minnesota,  U.  S.  S.  S.,  61. 
Minra,  Mr.,  321. 
Mishima,  317. 
Missionaries,    48,    52,   66,   67, 

172. 
Missionary  Code,  343. 
Missions,  American,  26,  60,  108, 

161,  191,  140,  172. 
Missions,  English,  172. 

"        Portuguese  and  Span- 
ish, 70. 
Mississippi  Bay,  84. 
Mito,  105,  106,  180. 
Mitsukuri,  282. 
Miyako,  (see  Kioto),  138,  153, 

168,  170. 
Moravian,  29-35,  4'»  45* 
Mori,  Arinori,  225-252,  253. 
Morioka,  288. 
Morrison,  Ed.  Society,  59. 
Motono,  125-128. 
Muller,  211,  212. 
Murata,  53-60,  10 1,  no,  I85- 

128. 


371 


Index 


Murray,  Vr.  David,  273. 
Mutsuhito,  Emperor,  144. 

Nagai,  170.] 

Nagasaki,  52-74,  94,  10 1,  108- 

117,  123-143,  150-188,  214. 
Nagasawa,  170. 
Nanko,  234. 

Naomi,  Rev.  Tamura,  302. 
Napoleon,  32,  34. 
Naval  Academy,  153,  168. 
Navy,  202. 
Netherlands,  18,  21,  34,  50,  61, 

140,  285. 
Nevius,  Rev.  John,  64,  92. 
New  Brunswick,  171,  208,  214, 

229. 
New  Japan,  174,  194. 
New  Testament,  54,   117,  125, 

140,  174,  189. 
New     Year,     83,     100,     219, 

232. 
New  York,    51-69,    118,    124, 

157,  200,  209,  264,  268. 
Nicolai,  Pere,  25. 
Nihon-Bashi  Church,  338. 
Nihon  Guaishi,  1 8 1. 
Niigata,  195. 
Nijo,  106,  146,  148. 
Ningpo,  104. 
Nippon,  73. 
Nishinomiya,  159. 
Nitobe,  Dr.,  326. 
Nobles  of  Japan,  291,  304. 
Nobles'  School,  289,  291,  298, 

303.  306,  308. 
Numagawa,  124,  223. 


Ogawa,  Rev.  Y.,  356. 

Ogimi,  Rev.  G.,  129. 

Ogin,  284. 

Ohara,  107. 

Okado,  Dr.,  257. 

Okubo,  50,  155,  156,  194,  197, 

198,  225,  227,  257. 
Okuma,  50,  125,  132,  174,  197, 

225,  259,  261,  263,  303. 
Old  Japan,  128,  196. 
Old  Testament,  189. 
Opium,  61. 

Order,  Imperial,  3d  Class,  355. 
Order  of  Rising  Sun,  283. 
Osaka,  94,  106,  144-170,  175. 
Owari,  146,  147. 
Owasco  Outlet,  59,  64. 

Pappenburg,  60. 

Paravium,  33. 

Parliament,  112. 

Parkes,  Sir  Harry,  142,  143. 

Passport,  329. 

Pearson,  Lieut.,  121. 

Peeresses'  School,  222. 

Peking,  143,  173. 

Perry,    Commodore  M.  C,  57, 

201. 
Pescadore  Islands,  275. 
Philadelphia,   51,  63,  64,   181, 

218,  232. 
Pignatel,  Mr.,  163. 
Pilgrim  Fathers,  30,  34. 
Pinto,  Mendez,  69. 
Plan,  345. 

Political  Economy,  187,  204. 
Portuguese,  60. 


372 


Index 


Powhatan,  U.  S.  S.  S.,  67. 

Principles,  Five,  149, 

Privy  Council,  225. 

Protestants,  136,  292,  309. 

Prussians,  34. 

Pruyn,   Hon.  Robert  H.,  121, 

154. 
Psalms,  27. 

Rai  Sanyo,  180. 
Reformation,  33. 
Reformed  Church,  29,  60,  61, 

62,  68,  S3. 
Reformed  Dutch,  63,  94,  1 24. 
Religion,  60,  70. 
Revolution,  226. 
Rising  Sun,  Order  of,  286. 
Roman,  158,  310. 
Roman  Catholic,  135-138. 
Rome,  140. 
Romanists,  183,  296. 
Ronin,  78,  104,  iii,  114,  147,, 

166. 
Russia,  275,  276. 
Russians,  25. 
Rutgers     College,     172,     217, 

278. 
Rutgers     Graduates  in  Japan, 

156,  172. 
Rysenburg,  33,  37. 

Saburo,  Shimada,  105. 
Saburo,    Shimadzu,    107,   227, 

228. 
Saga,   54,    125-130,    157,    175, 

180. 
Sagara,  211. 


Sago,  316. 

Saghalin,  72. 

Saigo,  139. 

Saikio,  see  Kioto,  180. 

Sakai,  162. 

Samurai,  76,  77,  231. 

Sand  Beach  Church,  64. 

San   Francisco,   218,  255,  268, 

289. 
Sanjo,  Premier,  113,  225. 
Sannomiya,  357. 
Sasaki,  225,  232. 
Sat-Cho-To,  III. 
Satoh,  Henry  M.,  105. 
Satow,   Mr.    E.   M.,    119,  133, 

143- 
Satsuma,    106-117,    131,    139, 

144-149,    155,  164,  165,  197, 

218,  225,  226,  228. 
Scandinavian,  48. 
Schellinger,  30,  31. 
Schieffelin,  Mr.  James,  154. 
Schmid,  Dr.,  93. 
Schuylkill  Valley,  64. 
Schwartz,  172. 
Scriptures,  103,  104,  109,  125, 

189-194. 
Scudder,  Dr.,  62. 
Sebastopol,  54. 
Sendai,  70,  168. 
Shanghai,   61,  65,  67,  68,  83, 

III,  113,  142. 
Shantung,  9a. 
Shiba,  235. 
Shiba  Church,  354. 
Shidzuoka,  195. 
Shikoku,  131. 


373 


Index 


Shimabara,  60,  71. 
Shimonoseki,  106, 1 12, 1 14, 1 15, 

121,  122,  143,  157. 
Shinano,  286. 
Shinshiu,  346,  350. 
Shinto,  23,  180,  342. 
Shirane,  Mr.,  213. 
Shitaya  Church,  298. 
Shogun,  78,  106,  109-I14,  123, 

143.  145-148. 
Shokoku,  Daimiajin,  227. 
Siam,  72. 

Simmons,  Dr.  B.,  65,  67. 
Son  of  Heaven,  174,  194,  267. 
Soshi,  236. 
Soyeshima,  125,  133,  139,  168, 

173.  174.  225,  303. 
Speer,  Mr.  Robert  E.,  349,  350, 

354. 
Spider,  55. 
States-General,  30. 
Sterling,  Sir  James,  32,  53. 
Stonewall,  168,  169,  195. 
Stout,  Rev.  Henry,  184. 
Sturges,  Mr.  Jonathan,  154. 
Suez,  236. 
Suguira,  170. 
Sumiyoshi,  170. 
Summers,  Rev.  James,  165. 
Surprise  ship,  65. 
Syle,  Rev.  E.  W.,  61,  67. 
Synod,  General,  345. 

Takahashi,  257. 
Takasaki,  310. 
Takato,  213. 
Ta  Kiang,  121. 


Talmage,  Dr.  John,  273. 
Tank,  Rev.,  48,  50,  52. 
Tatsu  (Iwakura),  199,  200. 
Teikoku  Daigaku,  233. 
Tenchijin,  211. 
Tenno,  267. 
T^rashima,  257. 
Thompson,    Rev.    David,    220, 

282,  355. 
Throne,    50,    144,    181,    195, 

198. 
Thunberg,  no. 
Tokaido,  108. 
Tokio,  17,   22,  27,  33,  50,  93, 

106,  122,  144,  162,  163,  170, 

180,  184,  185,  194,  195,  199, 

219,  220,  223,  229,  23s,  236- 

256,  269,  273,  289. 
Tokio  Daigaku,  233. 
Tokio  Times,  289. 
Tokudaiji,  225. 
Tokugawa,   71,   74,    143,    147, 

214,  234. 
Tori,  221. 
Tosa,  50,  III,   131,    139,   144, 

146,  162,  163,  197,  228,  312. 
Tsukiji,  229,  243,  288. 
Tycoon,  71,  74,  77,  106,   107, 

115-123,  138,  144,  145,  154* 

168,  195,  230. 

UCHIDA,  177. 

Ukuno,  355. 

Umeda,  165,  166. 

Union  Church  of  Christ,  334, 

337. 
Union  Theological  School,  302. 


374 


Index 


United  States,  i8,  22,  50,  57,  70, 
81,  93,  115,  120-126,  146, 
154,  155.  >63,  168,  188,  257, 
325-329. 

University,  Imperial,  129,  230, 
267,  307. 

Upper  House,  303. 

Urakami,  150. 

Utrecht,  30,  36,  47. 

Uwajima,  144. 

Uyeda,  302. 

Uyeno,  194. 

Uzume,  247. 

Valley  Forge,  64.    • 

Van  der  Beek,  29. 

Van  der  Vliet,  29,  32,  34. 

Van   Deurs,   Rev.  George,  48, 

5i.57»58. 
Van  Laer,  29,  30. 
Van  Valkenburg,  50,  195. 
Veeder,  Mrs.,  222. 
Verbeck,  Children,  297. 
Verbeck,  Col.  Wm.,  97,  253. 
Verbeck,   Miss,  351,  354,  357, 

360. 
Verbeck,  Mrs.,  133,  163,  231. 
Verbecks,  ancestry  of,  29-34. 
Von  Zinzendorf,  29. 

Wada,  Rev.,  355. 

Wakamatsu,  194. 

Wakasa  no  Kami,  53,  64,  10 r, 

125,  127,  128,  316. 
Walsh,  Mr.,  118. 
Washington,  163,  257,  273,  307, 

327. 


Wayland's  Moral  Science,  194, 

204,311. 
West,  22,  48,  74,  145,  164,  198, 

233. 
West  Indies,  41. 
Wigmore,  Prof.  J.  H.,  65. 
William  II.,  285, 
William  III.,  285. 
Williams,  M.  C,  81,  85,  loo. 
Williams,  S.  Wells,  60-61,  64, 

67,  68,  262. 
William  the  Silent,  151,  307. 
Willow  Cemetery,  171. 
Winnes,  Rev.,  66,  67. 
Winn,  Miss,  362. 
Wisconsin,  48,  52. 
Wo-jin,  72. 

Wood,  Chaplain,  61,  67. 
Wyoming,  U.  S.  S.  S.,  121. 

Xavier,  70. 

Yagimoto,  213,  262. 

Yamaguchi  Hanzo,  183. 

Yankee,  50,  152. 

Yashiki,  230. 

Yasukawa,  Rev.  Mr.,  317, 

Yatabe,  253. 

Yatoi,  219. 

Yedo,  (see  Tokio)  53,  71-79, 
92,  104,  116,  122,  133,  135, 
143-149,  I58»  161,  168,  169, 
183-188,  194,  200,  202,  210. 

Yezo,  72. 

Yokoi  Brothers,  169,  172. 

Yokoi  Heishiro,  124,  169,  1 81, 
214. 


375 


Yokohama,  77,  87,  92, 106, 11 1 
121,  142,  162,  165,  182,  202 
210,  219,  223,  235-243,  257 
268. 

Yokoyama,  226. 

Yoshida,  Mr.,  163,  170. 

Yoshiwara,  229. 


Index 

Yushima,  234. 


Zeist,  21,  30-48,  10 1, 142, 267, 

325. 
Zinzendorf,  Countess  of,  31. 
Zipangu,  65,  69. 
Zwolle,  30. 


376 


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